Chapter Eighteen: Malfoy Manor

"Collar Full" -Panic! at the Disco

Draco held his bowl of cereal in one hand, spooning the multi-colored puffs into his mouth with the other as he leaned against the kitchen counter. He was watching as Andromeda tried to coax Teddy to swallow down some sickly green baby slop. It looked and smelled revolting, and Draco wasn't at all suprised when the infant pursed his lips and spit. Slaver and pureed peas slid from his chin, plopped down onto the tray of his high chair and splattered Andromeda's face with tiny droplets.

She groaned, "Ugh, Teddy. That's terribly rude. I spent an hour shelling and boiling and blending. All for you to waste it on my face."

Draco bit his lip to avoid laughing at the mischevious look Teddy was giving his grandmother. His little ringlets morphed from a deep navy to a bright pink. Draco wondered if his hair might change with his mood.

"Why don't you give him something worth eating, 'Dromeda?" Draco asked, lifting his bowl to his lips to take a slurp of his milk.

His aunt turned an exasperated eye on him and he shrugged. "I'm only saying, that if I was stranded on a desert island with no magic and only that garish mixture for food, I'd sooner starve."

Andromeda took him by suprise by giving him the finger. Draco slapped a hand over his heart. "Aunt 'Dromeda, you wound me. And in front of my dear cousin.. What kind of an example are you setting for him?"

Andromeda let out a loud bark of laughter and slid the bowl of peas onto the table, giving up her endeavors to appeal to the child. "Me? He called me a-" she glanced toward Teddy who was now making finger paintings in his lunch mess, "He called me a bloody tosser this morning!" She said, making sure to keep her voice low in hopes that the baby would not repeat her words.

It didn't work. "Tosser!" Teddy squealed, slapping his chubby hands together. "Tossy, tossy, tosser!"

Andromeda sighed and raised her eyebrows pointedly.

Draco shook his head. "You're not blaming me for that. That has Theo written all over it..."

"What has me written all over it? Your heart, luv? Everyone knows that."

Theo stood just inside the kitchen doorway. Teddy looked up, fixing him with an Indigo stare before squealing, "Tosser!" and brandishing his spoon as if it were a wand.

Theo paled and shook his head. "No idea where he got that from. I'm telling you, the children's books these days are astonishing."

Andromeda rolled her eyes, scooping the baby up out of the high chair. "C'mon Teddy, let's have a bath, shall we?"

Theo watched her go, going so far as to peek around the door frame to be sure that she was out of ear shot before flopping down into her vacated chair.

"So..." Theo said, picking up Andromeda's abandoned mug of luke warm tea and slugging it back. "Where's Granger?"

Draco shrugged. "How should I know?"

"She's your bloody girlfriend, isn't she?" Theo asked, rolling his eyes and sighing loudly as he rocked the chair back onto two legs.

"No," Draco said coolly, avoiding Theo's gaze.

Theo chuckled and shrugged. "Could have fooled me."

"Not a very big accomplishment, mate. You'll forgive me for my lack of enthusiasm."

"We'll be back at Hogwarts by week's end and you haven't given a thought to what will happen to your blossoming relationship under the scrutinizing watch of the whole of Hogwarts population?" Theo asked, eyeing Draco over the rim of his comandeered cup.

Draco scoffed. "Budding relat- Are you fucking with me right now?" He sat the cereal bowl in the sink with a bit more force than necessary and headed for the front door. "I have more important shit to deal with."

"Oi! I wasn't trying to get your knickers in a twist!" Theo called after him. Draco rolled his eyes and kept walking.

He swung the front door wide and stepped out onto the front step, colliding immediately with the source of his frustrations.

"Oomph," she groaned, reaching out and grabbing his arm to steady herself.

"Granger. Bit of a hurry, if you don't mind," Draco muttered, grasping her arms and shifting her slightly to the left so that he could pass. A fleeting look of confusion passed over her features, but it smoothed away as quickly as it had come.

"Where are you off to?" She asked, keeping pace with him.

"Did I tell you?"

"No..."

"Must not be your business then."

She scoffed, stopping to press her fists against her hips. "What are you on about?"

Draco sighed, and ran his hand through his hair. "Theo is being his usual charming self. I'm sorry."

She studied him for a moment. "Apology accepted, under the sole condition that you tell me what you're up to."

"Nothing of consequence. I have to go to the Manor to pick up a few things before returning to the world of higher knowledge."

"B-But you can't!" Hermione spluttered, tugging his shirt sleeve and jerking him to a halt. "What if the Death Eaters have been there? You could be walking into a trap!"

"Ha!" Draco laughed, "I know you don't think much of my father, Granger, hell, I don't think much of my father. But he's not a complete idiot. They won't come anywhere close to a building under the control of the Ministry, and right now, that includes Malfoy Manor."

She paused to consider and he started walking again, hoping to make it far enough away to apparate before she had time to build another argument.

"I'm going with you."

That suprised him. "No. I don't need a baby sitter, Granger."

"I'm not interested in baby sitting, merely accompanying a friend to assist with packing his school trunk."

Draco arched an eyebrow, trying to think quick on his feet. No matter what he told Granger, he didn't trust that the Manor remained uncompromised. Putting himself in the line of potential danger was one thing. Putting her in the same situation was quite another entirely. He did the only thing that came to mind and hit her with a low blow.

"I don't think that's such a good idea, Granger. I mean you were tortured there, and carved up by Bella. Wouldn't wanna trigger your ADD."

Hermione grimaced. "PTSD, and I'll be fine. You can talk me through it."

Draco groaned, "I don't want to talk you through it! I want a quick trip, in and out."

Hermione shrugged, "Either way, I'm going."

"You're not."

"I am."

Draco pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. "I don't want you along, Granger."

Hurt flashed in her brown eyes for a fleeting moment before it was replaced with a steely resolve. "And since when have I ever cared what you want, Malfoy? Now let's get on with it."

Malfoy Manor in its abandoned state was even creepier than it had been in all its formerly well maintained glory. The hedges were wild and overgrown, the windows dark and eery. Hermione suppressed a shiver as her footsteps echoed off of the cobblestoned walkway.

Draco paused when they reached the door way, one hand outstretched. "Last chance to go home. All this place holds for you is bad memories."

Hermione squared her shoulders and thrust out her chin. "Just open the damn door, Draco."

He sighed and shrugged as he shoved the heavy door aside. It creaked ominously and he stepped across the threshold, mumbling something about the perils of masochisim.

Hermione stepped in behind him, letting the door close behind her. Despite it still being fairly early evening, there was precious little light in the house.

"Lumos," she murmured, moving farther into the foyer. A thick layer of dust covered everything, and their feet stirred the motes as they moved into the hallway. Hermione kept her eyes downcast as she moved past the drawing room, because despite the brave face she put on, she wasn't confident in her ability to hold it together. Especially when she visited this house so often in her dreams. In all honesty, she could probably find her way around on her own with as many times as she'd been chased through her subconscious down these very hallways.

Hermione followed closely behind Draco as he made his way through the hallways and staircases, feeling oddly calm. He stopped suddenly and she slammed into his back. "Oomph!"

"Shh," he hissed, spinning to cup a hand over her mouth.

Her eyes widened in alarm, and she glanced around quickly, her ears straining to hear anything that would have sent him into such a panic.

And then she heard it. A soft rustling, as though someone were rummaging through papers on a desk. She met Draco's silver gaze and he pressed a long finger to his lips. She nodded quickly and he released her.

He held his wand arm at the ready as he eased closer to the source of the sound. He paused outside of a closed door, glanced back at Hermione once and she held her wand up, ready for whatever waited for them beyond that door.

Draco blasted the door off of the hinges, sending shards of wood flying in every direction. As the dust was clearing, Hermione could vaguely make out the shape of an extrememly agitated peacock as it made its great escape out of the room, squawking its panicked displeasure as it disappeared down the hallway.

A huff of relief escaped her in the form of a breathless laugh. "My hero," she breathed. "Bravely taking on the evil poultry of the world single handedly-"

"Shut up, Granger. We're lucky it was a bloody bird."

He was right, but she couldn't stop the laughs that were bubbling up and out of her throat. She could feel the panic just below the surface that was threatening to break through.

Draco frowned at her. "Let's just get my trunk and get the fuck out of here."

She wiped her streaming eyes as she tried to stifle her giggles. Draco moved a little farther down the hallway before stepping into a room.

Hermione picked up the pace as her laughs finally subsided.

Whatever she had expected from Draco Malfoy's bedroom, it wasn't this.

Despite the tasteful decor, the walls were decorated with posters and pictures, ranging from Quidditch, to his friends, to scantily clad witches and muggle women alike. A rack above the four poster bed held several broomsticks. The bed itself donned a green, sillk comforter. Hermione arched an eyebrow, but remained silent. If she was being completely honest, the room reminded her of Sirius' back at Grimmauld Place.

"What?" Draco demanded, and she realised he had been watching her as she scrutinized his bedroom.

"Nothing."

"You have that face on. The one that says you're judging me." Draco sneered.

She shook her head. "Not judging. Just... looking."

He rolled his eyes and pushed his empty trunk across the floor with his foot. Hermione started for a stack of books on the night stand, but Draco headed her off. "Uh uh."

"What? Afraid I'll see some racy magazines you've hidden between those pages? I'm not a total prude, you know."

He snorted a laugh. "Um, no. I'm not putting you in charge of the books. We'd be here all day and I wouldn't even be able to Leviosa my trunk."

"Oh, please, do you think I'm daft? I would apply a non detectable extension charm and shrink them down. You'd never know they were there."

"Of course I wouldn't because they'd never see the light of day. All I need are my course books, and they're all at 'Dromeda's. How about you handle something like... socks?"

"Oh, honestly." Hermione huffed, stalking over to the dresser.

"Top drawer on the left," Draco smirked at he began tossing things into the trunk.

Hermione opened it roughly, gathering an armload of socks and depositing them into the trunk.

Everything was packed that Draco had deemed necessary within ten minutes, and they walked quietly back up the hallway, Hermione's mind racing with thoughts of going back to Hogwarts, with intermingling instances of images of Draco's lips.

"Why are you so quiet?" Draco asked, jolting Hermione out of her daydream and back to reality.

"Oh, mm, just tired is all. It's been a long day..."

"Right," Draco nodded in understanding. "How was that? With your parents?"

"They were angry," Hermione winced, "but rightfully so. I don't blame them. But mostly they were just grateful to see me. They're going to stay in Australia."

"You're okay with that?" Draco asked, arching a blond brow.

Hermione shrugged. "Yes. If I was being selfish, I'd want them here with me. But, they have a whole new life and they're happy. I'll be at school anyway."

"Only for the year. After that, you'll be on your own. Alone."

"I have friends," Hermione argued.

"I'd rather have an eternity of loneliness than to rely on the companion ship of Potty and Weasel."

"They're not my only friends," Hermione snapped, narrowing her eyes, "And they're not that bad!"

"Weasley tried to have me arrested this morning, or had you forgotten that already?"

Hermione threw up her hands in exasperation. "I never said he was a saint, but he's been my best friend since we were eleven years old. We've been through a lifetime's worth of hell together and-" She paused, a flicker from the open drawing room door caught her eye, "Did you activate the floo?"

Draco froze, "No."

The hair on the back of Hermione's neck stood on end as Draco lowered the trunk to the floor silently and grabbed Hermione's hand.

"You need to get out of here, now. Once you're past the gate, you'll be able to apparate." He intoned, his voice hushed and husky from the tension in the air.

"I'm not leaving without you." Hermione breathed back.

"Dammit, Granger, for once in your damn life would you just listen?"

"Not to stupid suggestions. I'm not going with out you, end of."

"Bloody woman, it's like you've got a death wish. I haven't the slightest how you avoided the Dark Lord's wrath for so long."

"Because I'm clever and capable and not at all the fragile, helpless woman you imagine me to be."

"If you two are done bickering, there's some business I'd like to discuss."

Hermione and Draco's heads snapped up at the familiar sound of Lucius Malfoy's lilting drawl.

Draco pointed his wand squarely at his father's chest. Lucius raised an eyebrow and Hermione was astounded at how Draco-like the expression was.

"There's no need for savagery, Draco, we can talk like civilized men, I do believe."

"What do you want, Lucius?" Hermione asked.

"My freedom, my dear Miss Granger, but thanks to you and your scheming friends it doesn't look as if I'm to ever have it. Tell me, Draco: How is it that you've avoided Azkaban?"

Draco shrugged. "It's all about who you know."

"Yes, yes, of course. How very political. Well done, son. Am I to infer from the school trunk you're lugging through the house that you're going back to Hogwarts?"

"Infer away," Draco smirked.

"Well, it seems that, for you at least, life has returned to normal."

Draco ignored the barb. "How's mother?"

Lucius barked a laugh, "As good as can be expected seeing as we've been on the run for months now."

"And who's fault is that?" Draco snapped.

Lucius smirked, "Yes, play the innocent for your mudblood girlfriend, Draco, by all means."

Draco's grip on Hermione's hand tightened painfully. "Don't you call her that," he growled.

Lucius chuckled. "Not saying it aloud won't change the fact that it's true."

Draco stepped purposely forward, his silver eyes flashing, wand arm still raised.

"Now, now, Draco. Play nicely." Lucius smirked. "I've come to help you."

Draco arched a blond eyebrow, an incredulous look crossing his face. "Help me? What are you to help me with, Father? You can't even help yourself."

Lucius' expression grew dark. "Careful boy, or I'll reconsider the risk I'm taking to be here."

"The Ministry doesn't know we're here."

"T'was not the Ministry to whom I was referring. There are worse people that could find out that I've been here. I've come with a warning, Draco."

Draco snorted and turned on his heel, stalking a few steps away before turning back, and then again.

Hermione watched him pace a few times before deciding that he wasn't going to speak. "A message, sir?" She didn't know why sir had slipped from her tongue. Perhaps the nervous feeling in her stomach reminded her too much of the way she had always felt when she was younger, a time when she had always shown respect to her elders. These days she granted that respect only to those who deserved it.

"Indeed Miss Granger. When you and your friends flew the coop, Draco slighted more than just his mother and myself. I'm sure you all were well aware of the ripple effect this would have. My fellow Death Eaters are angry. Justifiably so. A heinous betrayal on my son's part, truly. But, where as my wife and I could look past his trangressions as any good parent would... our friends are not as reasonable."

"Spit it out, Father, my hair is greying."

"There is a bounty on your head. Be careful who you trust, Draco."

"A bounty?" Draco scoffed. "Is that supposed to terrify me? Forgive me for not quaking with fear, but Lord fucking Voldemort shared my bathroom for years. A fucking Death Eater threat seems to pale in comparison."

Lucius shrugged. "Do what you will with that information. Your mother and I merely wished to relay the message."

"Well, thanks for nothing."

"Draco-" Hermione started, but he shook his head roughly.

"Don't, Hermione. Let's go-"

A jet of green light flew past his shoulder, narrowly missing Hermione's ear.

All three jumped back in suprise.

Another burst of light skimmed the edge of Draco's robes. Lucius spun on his heel, crossing the drawing room in three strides and disappearing into the flames of the fireplace.

Hermione looked frantically around for their attacker, trying to pinpoint the location from which the spells were coming.

A feeling of dread over took her as Barrett stepped out of the shadows, wand raised and ready to strike again. She raised her own wand, preparing to return fire.

"Avada Ked- Oh, it's you two," Barrett snickered. "Ooh, Kingsley is going to be vexed when he realises. So, tell me: How long have you two been in cahoots with Lucius Malfoy?"

"We're not in cahoots you bloody idiot, he ambushed us here the same as you!" Draco snapped, glaring at Barrett's menacing stance.

"And you two were here for...? What, Andromeda Tonks' house a bit to crowded for your tastes? Needed a little privacy to..." He waggled his eyebrows suggestively, but the joking manner in which he spoke was cancelled out by the fact that his wand was still raised.

"Lower your wand, Barrett." Hermione said. "We only came for Draco's school trunk. We were leaving when Lucius showed up."

"And what did he want?" Barrett asked, making no move to do as she'd suggested.

"He- He wanted Draco. He was trying to get him to come with him when you arrived. We owe you our gratitude, sir."

If Draco was suprised by the lie, he covered it well. He merely nodded once, his face a marble mask.

"I see."

"How... How did you know we were here, sir?" Hermione asked, her brows knitting together.

"The Ministry has this place under constant surveillance. The moment the floo activated we were alerted."

"Where are the rest?" Hermione queried.

"The rest of what?" Barrett sneered.

"The other Aurors... Surely they wouldn't send you here alone, knowing that there could have been a houseful of Death Eaters."

Barrett looked suprised for a moment before barking out a laugh. "Of course not, Hermione. I simply was the first to be alerted and therefore the first to arrive. I left word for the others, but I shall send a patronus to let them know their assistance will not be required. You two had better run along now, before any one of greater significance appears in that fireplace..."

Hermione and Draco exchanged a brief glance. Draco summoned his trunk, tightened his hold on her hand and jerked her out of the doorway with out so much as a backwards glance at Barrett. Hermione held her tongue until they were out of the house and nearly to the wrought iron gate, beyond which they would be free to apparate.

"Did you buy into what he said about leaving a message for the Aurors."

"Nope."

"Do you think he believed what I told him Lucius wanted?"

Draco's silver eyes caught her brown briefly before flickering away. "Let's hope."

They stepped outside of the gate's barrier, turned quickly and were sucked into the black void of apparition.