Chapter Twenty Five; A place to hide, red and green and significant others.
Hermione stumbled a little as they landed.
'What are we doing here?' she asked. Draco had brought them to his apartment again. A slight feeling of unease began to creep into Hermione's stomach. 'I thought we were meeting your mother at her safe house?'
'We're meeting her here first, then she'll apparate us into the house.' Draco explained, going around and closing all the windows and blinds. 'I'm sure that was mothers' handwriting in her letter, but I want to be certain that we won't be ambushed by father or anyone with him.'
Draco made his way back to Hermione and hugged her tightly. Tentatively Hermione hugged him back, burying her head in his chest and inhaling the smell of him.
'I'm going to disapparate outside, to check that it is really my mother coming in, I want you to hide in my room, alright?' Draco said. Hermione nodded, chewing at her lip absently. Draco gently tugged her lip out from between her teeth using his thumb.
'Don't worry, Hermione, I won't let you get hurt.'
'I think I can handle myself, but that's reassuring all the same,' Hermione mumbled, making Draco smile.
'Into my room now, Mother should be here soon,' Draco watched her disappear into his room before disapparating onto the street below, where he waited in the shadows. He only had to wait a minute before his mother appeared mid-way down the street. He straightened up as he watched her start walking down the street, unease leaking into the pit of his stomach as she continually checked over her shoulder in subtle ways.
Draco positioned himself so that she would walk right next to him, and when she did he reached out to grab a hold of her upper arm and disapparated her into his apartment. He had to hold on tightly, as the second he'd grabbed her, Narcissa had put up a fight, trying to worm out of his grip.
'Oh, Draco!' Narcissa explained when she realized who it was. 'You gave me a fright!'
'My apologies, Mother. I saw you were being followed and acted accordingly. Who is following you?'
'One of your fathers' friends. I fear your Hermione is in grave danger. Is she somewhere safe?'
'For now, yes. Mother, what do I do?' Draco begged his mother. Seeing him so desperate for answers, Narcissa saw her little boy again, the one who needed his mother for everything when he was confused or lost. And right now he was more lost than ever before, because someone he truly loved was involved.
Narcissa would never know what it would be like to have that kind of love, and she was determined to fight by Draco's side for as long as it took for him to keep that love.
'We will take her to one of my safe houses in the country, and we will keep her there until your father calms down.'
'Father doesn't know about the house?' Draco asked, his eyes wide.
'No, he does not. All my safe houses are mine in every sense, he has no idea that they exist.' Narcissa reassured him. Draco then did something he had not done for years; he stepped forward and gave his mother a very tight hug.
'Thank you, Mother,' he whispered in her ear. Narcissa felt tears threatening as she hugged her son back.
After a few moments Draco stepped back and excused himself from the room, 'Please excuse me, Mother, I'll just go get Hermione,'
Narcissa used the time he was gone to dry her eyes. She hadn't realized how much she had missed her son's hugs. She had received many one armed hugs from him in the past, but not a proper hug since he was young. She hadn't realized he had grown so tall.
'So, mother, where are we going?' Draco asked as he and Hermione walked back into the room.
'To the country. I have a humble little cottage there that I think you would like very much, Hermione,' Narcissa smiled kindly at the young woman. She noticed that there were deep bags under Hermione's eyes and a slight feel of fear to her. Narcissa liked to think it was her mothers' intuition that helped her read the feelings of her son and his girl, but she knew that after spending so many years as a Death Eater, you learnt to read the emotions of others, no matter how minor they were. If you didn't, if you made a mistake, you died. She had survived because she'd learnt this trick. Bella hadn't, because Bella hadn't cared to look at those outside of herself or the Dark Lord.
'Will you need anything to make any healing potions while you're there, Hermione?' Narcissa asked, seeming to take the brunette by surprise.
'No, thank you, Narcissa, I should be alright.' Hermione smiled softly.
'Well then, please, each of you take a hand, and I'll take us to this cottage,' Narcissa held out her hands to the couple, and once they both had a firm grip, she turned on the spot.
'Here we are,' Narcissa said. 'Would either of you care for some tea?'
'Yes, please, Mother,' Draco said, still sounding on edge.
'That would be great,' Hermione smiled gratefully and followed Narcissa into the kitchen. The safe house was a two storey country cottage. It would've fit comfortably into the ballroom of Malfoy Manor.
'This is your safe house?' Draco voiced Hermione's thoughts, sounding more surprised than she felt.
'Isn't it adorable?' Narcissa gushed. 'I found it simply by accident and simply fell in love at first sight. There are no house elves here, as I didn't want anyone from within the mansion to know the location. I know it's small, but I think I've decorated it nicely,' Narcissa beamed.
'I think it's lovely,' Hermione said. The front room was also the sitting room, with the kitchen and a small dining area adjacent and a narrow winding staircase leading upstairs. The furniture was mostly wooden, but the armchairs and couch looked worn yet very soft and comfortable. It was very homey, in Hermione's opinion.
'Mother, where is the bathroom?' Draco asked curiously. Narcissa pointed to the back of the kitchen where there were two doors side by side.
'The door on the right is the toilet and bathroom,'
'And the one on the left?'
'The backdoor,' Narcissa walked over and opened the door to show the pair. Outside there was a lush garden filled with flowers in full bloom. Hermione gasped and walked outside to get a better look; Draco shadowed her, afraid to let her out of his sight.
The garden was about as big as the house itself; there were winding cobbled pathways, stone benches to sit on, huge trees of every kind, and rows upon rows of many different types of flowers.
'This garden is my pride and joy, after my son, of course,' Narcissa smiled fondly at Draco as she led the two around the garden.
'It's beautiful,' Hermione breathed with her eyes wide. Draco, too, had to admit his mother had done an amazing job. He had no idea she had made a hobby of playing in a garden.
Narcissa sat the two down at a table in the centre of the garden and made her way back inside to collect the tea. While they waited Hermione continued to walk among the flowers, occasionally gently playing with the petals of some as she walked by, while Draco watched her. He made a mental note to buy a house with a garden for her once they were out of this mess, she looked so happy here, and so beautiful among the different flowers. Maybe he would even buy her one of those long, white satin looking summer muggle dresses for her to wear. She would look wonderful in one of those in her own garden.
'Here we go,' Narcissa made sure that everyone had a full cup of tea in front of them before she herself took a seat. The trio sat quietly while they drank their tea. The three were so content there that they stayed and watched the sun set together before finally heading inside.
'Your bedroom will be next to mine. I'm afraid there are only two bedrooms here, so there are very limited choices.' Narcissa said as she led Draco and Hermione up the narrow staircase.
'That's not a problem, Narcissa,' Hermione said, hoping that Narcissa understood how grateful Hermione was just to be looked after so well.
Narcissa smiled and opened the door for the couple. Inside was a king sized four poster canopy bed which dominated most of the bedroom, only just leaving enough room for two chests of drawers to stand side by side along the left wall and a small desk to sit in the corner.
Hermione adored it, but she had to hide a giggle behind her hand at the decorations and the colour scheme. The beds curtains were a beautiful deep red with gold linings, the quilt was a rich green with silver linings, and the abundance of piled up pillows were a mix of greens, reds, silvers and golds. There was a gold statue of a lion standing on its back legs on the centre of one chest of drawers and a silver snake rearing up on the other.
'Mother, did you, by any chance, decorate this room just for us?' Draco asked, sounding like he, too, was fighting the urge to laugh.
'I did. I hope you both like it,' Narcissa sounded proud of herself.
'I love it,' Hermione laughed and gave the older woman a hug, surprising her. Draco laughed at his mothers' expression and stepped forward to envelop both women in a hug. Tears threatened at Narcissa's eyes again.
'I'm getting a lot of hugs today,' Narcissa commented happily as they pulled apart. Hermione could only smile in response, she wasn't sure what to say.
'You've done so much for us, Mother. We truly appreciate it.' Draco said. Narcissa swallowed and flapped her hands in a very un-Narcissa like way.
'You two go to bed. I'll see you in the morning.' She patted Hermione's cheek and kissed her son's before disappearing into her bedroom.
'After you, Miss Granger,' Draco bowed elegantly, making Hermione giggle as she walked past as gracefully as she could.
'Why, thank you, Mr Malfoy.'
Once she was inside Draco stepped in and closed the door behind himself, smiling widely.
'I'm sure that mother has a variety of clothes for us in those drawers. She usually puts pyjamas in the bottom drawer if you want to look for some.' Draco guided Hermione over by placing his hand gently on the small of her back.
'Gee, I wonder which chest of drawers is mine?' Hermione teased, her hand tracing the lines of the lion statue.
'I wouldn't have a clue,' Draco responded sarcastically, smiling down at her.
The pair found pyjamas and spare underwear – which Hermione blushed at furiously, the thought of Narcissa Malfoy buying the perfectly fitting lace underwear for her – and settled into the lush bed. It was so soft and warm that Hermione hadn't even laid down yet and she was already sleepy. Once Draco stopped moving she wriggled over and laid on his chest, smiling contentedly as his strong arms wrapped around her and held her tight. Neither of them said a word, both happy to simply be together.
Hermione was just beginning to fall asleep when she heard the unmistakeable sound of someone apparating out the front of the house.
'NARCISSA!' Lucius Malfoy's voice rang out in the still air. Draco sat up, now cradling Hermione protectively. Narcissa stuck her head through the door;
'Both of you, stay there, don't make a sound,'
She made sure the door was properly closed before she made her way down the stairs, taking her time and even opening the door slowly.
'There is no need to bellow, Lucius, dear,' she scolded gently and he stormed in. 'How did you find me?' she asked.
'I know where all of your properties are, Narcissa.' Lucius spoke coldly, not surprising Narcissa in the slightest. In the early years of their marriage Lucius was a perfect gentleman, the ideal husband, and through the time of the Dark Lords return they had become close friends, needing the support from one another; but since Harry Potter had vanquished the Dark Lord, Lucius Malfoy had slowly become something of a real thorn in Narcissa's side. A very rude, cold and evil man, no longer the man she had come to care for.
'You're not supposed to,' Narcissa replied just as coldly. 'They are mine.'
Lucius turned, his hand raising as if he were about to slap her, but he seemed to stop himself just in time, looking murderous.
'I know you have the mudblood filth here with you. Where is she?'
'Where is who? It is just me here,' Narcissa opened the front door widely and gestured with her hand. 'If your only intentions were to come here and wrongly accuse me of holding people here in my home, then you may as well leave, husband dearest. I will be returning home tomorrow evening.'
But Lucius didn't move, he stood there glaring at his wife.
'How dare you.' He hissed. 'You bought this house with my money that I earned, and you have the guts to call it yours. Well, I have news for you,' Lucius stepped forward and tightly gripped Narcissa's upper arm, cutting off her circulation, 'You belong to me. And everything you buy, belongs to me.' he spat, his face slowly turning red.
'You have no right to kick me out of my own house.'
Just as Narcissa was about to respond, there came a loud thud and a scream from upstairs. Both Malfoys stared at the roof for a few moments before hearing the unmistakeable sound of their son yelling;
'GET YOUR HANDS OFF OF HER!'
Lucius smiled cruelly at his wife. 'It seems you were lying, dearest wife. You will live to regret this,' and he spun on the spot, dissaparating them away.
Narcissa found herself in Lucius' favoured study. She stood as tall as she could with pride as her husband walked away from her to sit in his favourite armchair. She knew that if she tried to leave she would most probably be cursed heavily, so she stayed where she was, praying that Draco and Hermione were safe.
After an agonizingly long, silent ten minutes, more people apparated into the room. Narcissa was surprised with how few ex-Death Eaters were involved. She recognized Goyle, Nott, Mr Greengrass and Mr Humphries. Goyle and Nott had Draco on both knees, holding his arms behind his back, while Mr Greengrass and Mr Humphries had just thrown Hermione onto the ground. She was stiff as a board, so Narcissa assumed she was under the full body bind curse.
'We got them, Lucius!' Mr Humphries exclaimed. Narcissa noted with pride that he had a fat lip and a bloody nose. She quickly scanned the others and saw that Mr Greengrass was cradling his wrist and seemed to be developing a black eye, while Goyle was hunched over slightly – Narcissa assumed he'd gotten a knee to the groin or to the stomach – and Nott was flexing his jaw, which already had a decent bruise forming.
'I can see that, Humphries.' Lucius said lazily. 'Boys, let go of my son,'
The pair hesitated, but released Draco and stepped back hastily. Draco stood up gracefully and made his way over to Hermione, standing over her protectively.
'What are you doing, Draco?' Lucius demanded.
'Protecting my girl,' Draco raised his chin in defiance. 'Who has done nothing wrong to you. None of you have any right to be holding her against her will in this way, you need to release her!' Draco said, his eyes blazing.
But his little speech was met with laughter.
'Draco, she is a mudblood. She has offended us just by breathing,' Lucius explained. 'I thought you felt the same way, I thought I raised you better than this,'
'You tried raising me in the worst way possible, Lucius,' Draco snarled, making his father stiffen with anger.
'Anyway, I thought you'd approved of Hermione? You did give her permission to enter our grounds, in any case?' Draco asked curiously. He had a hunch that had been his fathers' plan all along, but he wanted to be sure.
'Well, I had to make my job easier for when I kidnapped her, didn't I? And I had to find a way to put a tracking charm on her without the famous Granger finding out.' Lucius shrugged. 'After all you said about her supposed intelligence while you were at school, I'm rather surprised that she didn't immediately spot the curse,'
Hermione felt like banging her head against the floor. Everyone else had been suspicious when she'd told them that Lucius had given her permission to enter the Malfoy grounds, she really should've been as well.
'Well, lift the curse and let us be on our way, you won't have to see her again,' Draco said.
'I can't do that, Draco. You see, Mr Humphries still wants his fun with her, as he missed out when you attacked him,'
'You're not getting anywhere near her!' Draco growled. He was wandless, but ready to fight if it meant protecting his Hermione.
'Lucius,' Narcissa stepped forward to stand next to her husband. 'Can you not see how happy Draco is when he is with her? Why can't you just let them be?'
'Because my pureblood son will not fool around with mudblood scum!' Lucius was on the verge of yelling.
'Is our heritage really more important than your only sons' happiness?' Narcissa exclaimed.
'YES!' Lucius roared, leaping up and yelling right in Narcissa's face. 'I WILL NOT HAVE HALF BLOOD GRANDCHILDREN CARRYING THE MALFOY NAME!'
Narcissa barely flinched, if anything she seemed to turn to stone before him.
'Lucius Malfoy. You are a cruel man, and I want nothing more to do with you. I am taking my son, and I am leaving you,' Narcissa turned, released Hermione from the body bind curse, summoned both Hermione and Draco's wands, returned them to their owners and faced the men in the room. Draco hurried to gather Hermione up in his arms and held her tightly against his chest, both of them pointing their wands at the ex-Death Eaters.
'I'm going to sell everything I know about you all to the Ministry, along with all the proof that I have. So you'd better start running gentlemen. Good bye, husband dearest,' Narcissa snarled as she held her hands out to Hermione and Draco once again.
'Good bye, Father,' Draco sneered, taking his mothers' hand and making sure he was holding onto Hermione tightly. The last thing any of them saw as Draco disapparated them away was the ex-Death Eaters also disapparating and Lucius standing and screaming;
'I HAVE NO WIFE OR SON!'
The three of them landed in Hermione's bedroom, Narcissa stumbling a little on the landing.
'Sorry, Mother, I'm not accustomed to side along apparition with two people,' Draco apologized immediately.
'No, it's fine, Draco, you did a fine job.' Narcissa straightened up. 'Now, I need to go straight to the Ministry. I need to beat my husband there. I will owl you later, Draco. Look after each other, you two.' And she spun to dissapparate.
'I'm so glad she's standing up to him,' Draco smiled down at Hermione and kissed her forehead. 'When Mother is finished at the ministry, Father and the others will be sent to Azkaban for a long time. You're safe now, Hermione,' Draco beamed. Hermione couldn't believe it. Her heart was still in her throat, and she could still feel the adrenaline surging through her body, but she was safe.
'What a nightmare that was!' was all she could say, before she collapsed from exhaustion. Draco caught her just before she hit the floor and carried her to her bed, tucking her in and kissing her forehead again.
He didn't want to leave her, but he knew he had to go downstairs and let everyone know that she was safe. With a deep sigh he quietly left the room and leapt down the stairs.
'Oh, Draco!' Luna exclaimed from the lounge room floor. Everyone was camped out in the lounge room; Luna and Harry were the only two awake.
'Hi.' Draco found himself slightly out of breath, 'Hermione's upstairs asleep, she's safe!' he beamed, and had Harry and Luna return his smile.
'Oh, Draco, well done!' Luna jumped up and gave Draco a hug. Harry laughed softly at Draco's surprised expression.
'Wha-?' Ginny mumbled from next to Harry.
'Malfoy's being funny.' Harry stroked Ginny's hair. Ginny sat up and blearily looked around; when she saw Draco's expression she, too, burst out laughing. She jumped up and joined in on the hug.
'Hermione's safe?' she asked Draco quietly.
'One hundred percent, she's upstairs sleeping right now,' Draco smiled widely. Ginny returned his smile and gave the two blondes a squeeze before letting them go.
'Come on, Luna, I'm sure that Draco wants to get back to Hermione. We'll see them both in the morning,' Ginny said, taking Luna's hand and leading her back to the space that she and Ron had been sharing, before she returned to Harry, hugging him tightly before lying down and cradling James in her arms.
'I'll be right back,' Harry whispered to Ginny, who nodded sleepily.
'Malfoy, before you disappear upstairs, can I have a word?' Harry asked, gesturing to the kitchen. Draco nodded and followed his old enemy through the house.
'Pumpkin juice?' Harry asked. Draco nodded, suddenly realizing he was parched.
'Please!'
Harry poured the two drinks and waited until Draco had finished drinking before he asked;
'What happened after you left us?'
Draco told Harry about his mothers' house, being kidnapped again, his mother threatening Lucius and going to the ministry, and Draco also told Harry that Hermione had collapsed from sheer exhaustion once they'd gotten back. Which neither of them blamed her for.
The pair sat in silence while they finished their drinks.
'If anyone at school had told me that we would be able to sit at a table and have a drink without wanting to kill each other one day, I would never have believed them,' Harry commented as they put their cups in the sink. Draco laughed and turned to pour a drink for Hermione.
'Neither would I,'
Harry seemed to hesitate, then placed a hand on Draco's shoulder.
'I'm glad she's got you. You truly care about her. Thank you for looking after her, Ma-Draco,' Harry stumbled over Draco's name, but felt a surge of pride as he said it. Hermione would be proud of him. Draco raised his eyebrows but nodded his head, clapping his hand on Harry's shoulder,
'That means a lot coming from you. Thank you, Po- Harry,' Draco gave Harry a small smile.
Then, without another word, the pair left the kitchen to return to their significant others.