27 March, Tuesday, 1110 BST
Draco had kissed Drew on the forehead as the child rested in her grandmother's arms. Narcissa Malfoy nodded at her son.
"I need to run an errand away from the castle for a few hours," he whispered. Mrs. Malfoy nodded. Draco kissed her on the cheek. "I'll be back."
o-o-o
He found himself stepping out of one of the many floo-network connected fireplaces right outside of the Ministry of Magic in downtown London. He blew out a breath as he entered the historic offices. He made a beeline to the scarred wizard's office, hoping he didn't leave for his lunch break just yet.
Draco entered the small office. He nodded at the bespectacled wizard who was signing a few papers before handing them to the female clerk.
"Hey," Harry said as he extended his arm to the blonde wizard. Draco shook it. Harry took in a breath, thinking the worst. "Is everything alright with Hermione?"
"She's still unconscious," Draco said.
"You alright?" Harry asked as he canted an eyebrow up as he looked at his friend.
"Yeah," Draco responded, gulping. "Did I catch you at a bad time?"
Harry's eyes widened for a moment. He shook it off. "Uh, no," he said as someone entered the door.
The short witch hugged one of her oldest friends. Pansy smiled at the blonde Slytherin. "What are you doing here?"
"I needed to get some fresh air," Draco said, shrugging.
Harry turned to the clerk who was filing the paperwork he had just signed. "Shelley, I'm going to take the rest of the day off. If anyone needs me, have him send me a patronus."
The witch nodded her head before continuing with her day. Harry turned back to his pair of friends. "Hey, Pans, are you breaking for lunch?"
"Yeah, I was heading home," Pansy nodded. "I'm off for the rest of the day. Blaise is stuck in meetings until 8 p.m. tonight."
"Why don't we all go to lunch?" Harry said, looking at the both of them. They all nodded in agreement. Pansy touched her wand sending a messenger patronus home to the nanny advising her and Blair that she'd be an hour or two later than usual. She shrugged at the two wizards.
"I've got just the place," Draco said as he nodded towards the door.
o-o-o
27 March, Tuesday, 1200 BST
They sat finishing their lunch in a quaint little Muggle eatery called Ono Kine Grindz; a transplanted couple from Hawai'i owned the café. Hermione and her parents used to have Sunday brunch there. Draco, Hermione and Drew continued the tradition.
Harry and Pansy raised an eyebrow each when Draco led them out of the Wizarding World. They both laughed as he opened the door to the Hawaiian restaurant.
o-o-o
"The food's amazing," Pansy said as she took a last bite of her kalbi style short ribs.
"So what's really on your mind, Draco?" Harry asked as he took a sip of his iced tea.
Draco sighed slightly. He looked at Harry. "I know it goes against all Department of Magical Law Enforcement protocol," Draco said, pausing. He looked straight at Harry, "I need to get into the Tanner Compound."
Pansy glanced sideways at Harry for a split second. "Well, we'd need to keep everything on the hush hush."
"We'll need to keep the use of magic to a minimum," Harry said as he wiped his mouth.
"Shall we then?" Draco said, standing up as he placed thirty English pounds on the waiter's payment tray. Harry shrugged at Pansy as they, too stood up. They followed the Slytherin out the door.
o-o-o
27 March, Tuesday, 1208 BST
After making their way to the Leaky Cauldron, they apparated onto the grounds of the Pure-blood family's compound. Draco led them up the familiar walk.
The Ministry inspectors had finished their evidence gathering the day before. There were two guards at the front. Harry had nodded at the two aurors who nodded them through the front door of the mansion.
Draco gulped as he followed Harry and Pansy into the large foyer. He hesitated before following them into the large ballroom that the Ministry inspectors had apparated into during the raid. The crates of Muggle weapons were inventoried and transported back to the Ministry of Magic offices. Inspector Dean Thomas and a crew of four other aurors escorted the weapons and ammunition to their final destination, supervising the destruction.
The ballroom was mostly empty except for areas marked and photographed for evidence. The old oak floor was stained with drying pools of blood.
"We tallied over three hundred Muggle weapons that we confiscated," Harry said. "Thankfully none of the Death Eaters thought to use them in their defense. They reverted to dueling with their wands."
"The only weapon fired was by Kellen," Pansy said. "All three projectiles ricocheted and hit him."
Draco nodded. He looked around the large empty room. Visions of what had happened that night flashed before his eyes; Roxanne holding onto Drew, his duel with Kellen, watching him torture both his wife and his daughter.
"You alright, Draco?" Harry asked. The blonde nodded. "So what exactly are we doing here?"
Draco nodded their exit from the ballroom and headed down one of the hallways that led to the guests' quarters. Harry and Pansy nodded at each other knowing where Draco had wanted to go. They followed Draco into the bedroom, shutting the door behind them.
"Harry and I inventoried this room already," Pansy said.
"What did you find?" Draco asked softly as he saw the aftermath of his actions.
"Blood trail on the floor," Harry began. "Blood and … other body fluids on the sheets."
Draco gulped as he stared at the unmade bed. "Did you find anything else?" Draco asked, quietly.
"Hermione's lab coat and cellular phone are at the office," Pansy chimed in.
"Nothing else?" Draco turned to the two with a hopeful look in his eyes.
"No. Why do you ask, Draco?" Harry said, looking at him curiously.
Draco pulled his silver chain out from under his shirt. He held onto his wedding band and then showed it to them.
"I yanked Hermione's gold band off her finger when she was trying to convince me that we were married," he said, not looking at them for a moment. "I uh. I threw it toward the door."
"Okay," Harry nodded. He patted the wizard's shoulder. He turned to Pansy. "Why don't you take that far wall Pansy? Draco, you take the door. I'll take the wall near the bed. And remember, no magic."
The two Slytherins nodded before heading to their areas. They scoured the floor area for quite some time.
o-o-o
"Shit!" Draco said in exasperation.
"Hey come on," Harry said looking his way. "We'll find it."
"We've been looking for the past fifteen minutes, Harry," Draco said in frustration.
"Look, it'll show up, Draco," Pansy said as she retied her ponytail. "So from where exactly did you throw it?"
"Where Harry is," Draco said. "I flung it at the door, around here. It's not anywhere near the wall or the corner."
He shrugged looking at them, frustrated. Pansy returned to looking in her area. So, too, did the others.
"Hey, I think I got something," Pansy said as she ran her finger along the base of the wall where the thick carpet met it. She looked at the gold piece of jewelry and read the inscription as Draco and Harry approached her. "You must have flung it pretty hard, Draco."
She handed the gold band to her old friend. Draco whimpered as he read the inscription aloud, "The Serpent and the Lioness forever, 21 March."
Pansy patted his shoulder as she nodded at him. Draco's hands shook as he unclasped his chain. Harry caught the chain as it fell from Draco's neck. Draco took in a breath as Harry handed it to him. Draco looked at the gold piece he had placed on Hermione's finger a little over two years ago. He threaded it onto the silver chain. The two wedding bands clinked. He blew out a breath as he replaced the chain around his neck. He looked at his two friends, nodding at them, giving them thanks for allowing him to find the ring. He clutched at the two rings for a moment.
"I think our work's done here," Harry smiled a little.
"Let's get out of here," Pansy said as she nodded toward the door.
o-o-o
27 March, Tuesday, 1245 BST
The three found themselves outside of the Leaky Cauldron. Pansy looked at the blonde wizard, "So what are you planning to do next?"
"I was going to head home," Draco gulped.
Harry gave Pansy a glance. He looked back at Draco, "You want some company?"
"You two've been very generous with your time, guys," Draco shrugged. "I don't want to keep you."
"Nonsense, Draco," Pansy said. "What are friends for?"
"Yeah, I don't think either Pansy or I have anything better to do than to do some house cleaning," Harry smiled.
"You guys are incorrigible, you know that," Draco said, crying. Both Harry and Pansy hugged him.
"Okay, I think we're making a scene," Harry said after a while. "How about we head to a fireplace and floo to your house."
o-o-o
Draco was the last to exit the fireplace as the three entered the Muggle one-story house. He took in a breath as he saw the destruction.
"Dean and my team were called to the scene," Harry said. "Pansy and her guys were called to Malfoy Manor simultaneously."
Draco looked at the remnants of the old flat screen television and the pool of dried blood on the carpeted floor. He had to sit down, making his way to one of the couches.
"Hermione got the best of four Death Eaters. Three of them through Muggle means," Harry said as Draco looked at him. "Miles Tomkins, a Pure-blood Ravenclaw from our year and Jefferson Watkins, a Hufflepuff Pure-blood a year younger, both had their necks broken in here."
Draco stood up and paced for a moment. He saw the overturned chairs in the kitchen. He headed there. Harry nodded at Pansy.
He saw the dried up pool of blood on the floor near the chairs. He had to lean against the table to steady himself.
"Hershel Jankovic, a Slytherin two years ahead of us," Harry paused, "He got stabbed through the heart with a kitchen knife."
Draco looked at the knife stand. Hermione's favorite chef knife was not in its place. Harry nodded towards the hallway to the bedrooms.
Draco hesitated before he led the way there. He stepped into the master bedroom that he shared with Hermione. He took in a breath as he saw the cracked windowsill. He saw drops of blood on the carpet. He had to take a seat on the bed.
Pansy took a seat next to him. She put her arm around his shoulder. "Hey, why don't we start the cleanup now?"
Draco nodded. He looked up at Harry who nodded back. The three got to work.
o-o-o
27 March, Tuesday, 1600 BST
Harry had just finished righting the living room. The three had been in the one-story Granger-Malfoy house for the past three hours. Pansy cleaned up the kitchen.
Pansy entered the living room and nodded at the former Gryffindor. Harry nodded back, acknowledging that he was done cleaning up the room. Pansy led the both of them to the main bedroom where they had left Draco three hours earlier.
Pansy rushed to the side of the bed. Draco was lying in the fetal position, clutching a framed family picture to his chest; his cheeks streaked with tears. He was looking off in the distance.
"Are you alright, Draco?" Pansy asked concerned.
Harry waved his wand repairing the windowsill before joining Pansy at the bedside. He knelt down and looked at his old rival.
"Why'd this happen, Harry?" Draco asked, whimpering, looking up at the scarred wizard.
Harry glanced at Pansy for a moment. She shrugged her shoulders; she didn't have an answer either. Harry looked back at Draco.
"It's like Hermione always says, Draco," Harry began, as he squeezed the blonde wizard's shoulder, "Sometimes life will throw a curve at you."
Draco nodded. "You just have to know how to deal with it," Draco finished. "So why do I feel so guilty then?"
Harry took in a breath. He glanced over at Pansy. Pansy's breath hitched.
She squeezed Draco's hand. She rolled up her left sleeve, exposing her Dark Mark. "When we joined the Death Eater movement years ago, we didn't really know how far down the path of evil they could go. Many of us, you included, saw through Voldemort's rants.
"Those that were spellbound by that madman are going to follow him over a cliff, Draco. Roxanne and Kellen were believers," Pansy said, gulping. "They were going to do whatever they could to tip the balance in their favor. What better way to do it than to try to get a Malfoy on their side?"
"They failed, Draco," Harry continued. "You helped to stop their dastardly plan. You stop them from using the weapons on Muggle-borns and Half-bloods, Draco. Hermione knows how important that is."
"Harry's right, Draco," Pansy said. "You can't keep beating yourself up."
"If I had just declined the Hogsmeade trip chaperoning duty," Draco said. "If I just didn't go down that alley. If I could turn back time."
"Draco, there are a lot of what-ifs in life," Pansy said. "You just have to live with your decisions and hope for the best."
"Trust me, Draco," Harry said, looking into the grey eyes of his former rival. "Hermione and I know what it's like to use a Time Turner. It's not all it's cracked up to be. You would know both histories. It would hurt just as much."
Draco nodded his head as he sat up. He ran his fingers through his hair. He blew out a breath. "Thanks for helping me clean up, guys."
"I think we did a pretty good job of it," Harry said as he looked around the main bedroom. He looked back at the platinum blonde who stood up to stretch. "Can we accompany you back to Hogwarts?"
Draco laughed. He nodded at the three as they made their way out to the fireplace in the living room.
13