I am so sorry I made everyone wait for so long.

0o0

As calm and collected as Lucius may appear to others, he was devastated by Draco's disappearance. He was doing what he could to help Ron and Harry investigate and find out who was behind Hermione and Draco's kidnapping. He had contacted his old acquaintances and the healers that had inspected Hermione for information, but no one knew anything. Lack of information did not discourage Lucius. It fueled his efforts.

"Abraxas, I swear I saw her again." said Calista. "She looks exactly the same."

Abraxas shook his head. "That can't be."

"I know what I saw. It was her – Oh! Lucius! Come here!" Calista called after her son.

Lucius stopped in front of the portrait of his parents, hanging on an upper level of the manor. It was commissioned after their engagement was announced during the summer before their seventh year. His father was wearing dark robes and his mother was wearing a modest white, laced dress. Beside the small nose and larger eyes, his father was a double for Draco at that age and his mother was equally beautiful. She was where Draco inherited his lips and cheekbones.

"Yes, mother." said Lucius

"The young lady that was here the other day, where is she?"

"What young lady?"

"The one wearing with curly hair and Muggle robes."

"You mean Miss Granger."

"Miss Granger?" Calista repeated with a thoughtful expression on her face. She looked at Abraxas and he too was deep in thought.

"Is something wrong?" asked Lucius.

"Maybe it was her grand-daughter?" said Abraxas.

"That could possibly be true. She's her exact copy."

"What are you two talking about?" asked Lucius.

"Miss Granger. We know her grandmother." said Calista.

This certainly aroused Lucius' interest. "How?"

"She's a distant cousin of ours." said Abraxas. "She stayed with us...well, we met her right before this portrait was made."

Calista nodded. "And she was a dear friend of mine."

"Tell me more."

The wheels in Lucius' head began to turn as his mother and father related the tale of Evelyn March to him. He considered the possibility that Evelyn could be Hermione Granger. It was suspicious how she suddenly appeared at their gates, unconscious, and with no memory of who she was. The most intriguing thing was that she was practically a Squib, with little control of her magic. She was clumsy and kept getting herself hurt. She spent most of her visit ill in bed. That sounded nothing at all like Hermione Granger. Her difference in behavior could be due to the memory loss. Or Evelyn could be Hermione's grandmother as his parents believed. That would mean Hermione was related to them and not a muggle-born and she had magic in her blood.

He wouldn't know if Evelyn was Hermione until he found Evelyn March's photo. A portrait was never made, but his parents told him that she was present in their engagement and wedding ceremony. Lucius went into the family library and through the old black and white albums but found none with her in them. He went to another portrait of his parents that was close. The subjects of portraits are sentient. They could speak to and with people on the outside and could move into other portraits in the same building, as well as visit their own portraits in other places. The portrait he was speaking to now was of them in their late thirties. Lucius held the photograph of their engagement ceremony in front of them.

"I don't see her." said Lucius.

"That can't be. She was standing next to me on my left." said Calista, staring at the photo.

Lucius turned the black and white photograph around to look at it. His father was standing on his mother's right, but there was nothing on her left. There was a large empty space on her left, where Evelyn should be.

"She must be hiding." said Abraxas. "Ask her to come out."

"Evelyn March reveal herself." ordered Lucius, but nothing happened. Having an idea, he took out his wand and said, "Aparecium!" The revealing charm forced hidden messages to appear.

Slowly, images began to appear in the photograph, three people that where not there before. The oddest thing was the three had their backs to the camera. One, a woman with dark hair, who he assumed was Evelyn March, was standing next this his mother. The other two were nearby, a man and a woman, both had light colored hair. He turned the photograph back to portrait.

"Who are these people?" he asked.

"That's Evelyn beside Calista, over there is my…my mother and brother." replied Abraxas.

"You have a brother?" said Lucius in surprise, "Why is this the first time I've heard of him?"

"We don't speak of them." said Calista. She side glanced at Abraxas and continued speaking to Lucius but lower her tone. "After their death all of their images were removed, along with all of their possessions."

Lucius had heard the story of how his grandmother, Elizabeth, died of an illness in her bed. What he found curious was the brother his father never told him about. Even more curious was that someone rid the house of everything with their image on it.

"They're all dead." mumbled Lucius.

"Both of them are, but not Evelyn."

"What happened to her?"

"She went back home and we never heard from her again. Lucius where is she? Evelyn's grand-daughter. I want to see her. Ask her about her grandmother." said Calista.

"I'm sorry mother, but she is unreachable at the moment." He informed her delicately. "Did someone came to pick Evelyn up? Or did she leave on her own."

"We don't know. She left without saying goodbye." his mother said sadly.

Lucius excused himself to search for Narcissa. He was going to tell her about the mysterious woman. He found her in Draco's bed room, looking over their son's belongings with a pensive expression on her face.

0o0

Laying Draco's personal belongings over his bed, Narcissa sorted through them. She needed something he wouldn't miss because after she put it into the cauldron it would be destroyed. The potion she was brewing required her to sacrifice something personal, sentimental of his. Making her mind, she decided on his old toy broom she and Lucius had brought for him when first started flying. She went into her bedroom. With shaking hands, she held the broom over the simmering potion she had brewing and dropped it in. The potion boiled and turned from a red to a cloudy black and that was how it remained.

Narcissa was puzzled when nothing happened and a horrible thought occurred to her. What if Draco was dead? She pushed that thought aside and doubled her efforts into finding her son. She refused to believe that he was dead. Her son was still alive, waiting for help. She was not giving up until she found him.

"I'm sorry to be the one to tell you this." said Lucius as he entered the room.

Narcissa stopped what she was doing and looked at her husband.

"The Aurors already tried using a locator potion and spell and none of them worked."

"I know, but somewhere in my mind I thought this would work." admitted Narcissa.

Lucius took Narcissa's hand and lead her away from the cauldron. He took her to a small table in the corner where tea and crumpets waited for them. While she sipped her tea, he told her about what he had recently heard from his parents and his suspicions about the connections between Evelyn March and Hermione Granger.

"Evelyn March?" said Narcissa. "I've heard that name before."

"You have? Where?"

"I can't recall...but if you want to see photographs of hers I think my mother might have some."

Both of their mothers were close friends from that Hogwarts days. There was a good chance that Narcissa's mother had photographs of Lucius' parent's wedding and in them would include the mysterious Evelyn March.

"I can't believe I didn't think of that." stated Lucius.

"Lucius?" Narcissa groaned, clutching her head.

Lucius caught Narcissa right before she fell off her chair.

"Narcissa," he said, shaking her, "What's wrong?"

Narcissa was unable to answer him as she had lost consciousness. While Lucius carried her to the bed, he ordered a house elf to retrieve a healer. As he waited for the healer to arrive, he went to the table and examined the tea she had been drinking. Causally, he placed it back on the table returned to Narcissa's bedside. His eyes alert, he kept his wand tightly in his hand.

0o0

At first, Kingsley was going to dismiss Harry and Ron from Hermione and Draco's case because this was too personal. They knew both missing persons - now viewed as kidnapped victims. But the two wizards stood their ground and demand their right to investigate.

Harry and Ron were sitting in Harry's dinning room at his home. On the table were parchments filled with statements from Hermione's co-workers. They were carefully looking over what Hermione's co-workers could recount of the night of her accident. No one saw anything suspicious or caught a glimpses of the mysterious house elves Blaise had spoken of. There were no leads and they are at their wits end.

"We should redirect our attention to Malfoy." suggested Harry.

"But this person wants Hermione not Malfoy." said Ron.

"It's our only option. This person – whoever he or she is – left no clues."

"No! There has to be something!"

Harry was equally as frustrated as Ron and wondered if Kingsley was right. They should stayed out of this case. Their concern for Hermione was clouding their judgment. They were not as sharp as they would be in another case. Normally, they would have had something by now. Maybe if he thought harder then -

"Werewolves!" said Harry, "Wasn't she working on a cure for werewolves."

"To cure them she must interviewed some. May be they saw something." said Ron.

Harry dug through the scatter parchments. "Where are her notes on them?"

"Not here or her office. She must have kept them separate from her other projects."

"If I were Hermione where would I hid my important notes?"

Both wizards thought it over and the answer came to them at the same time. They gathered the parchments and Apparated to Hermione's flat. When they arrived they went straight to the bookshelf.

"Knew she wouldn't organized it like this." muttered Ron as they reorganized Hermione's books like she used to have it.

"Lucky we remember where they are suppose to be." agreed Harry, exchanging books with Ron.

Once they were finished, they stepped back as the books began to glow and a five small leather-bound books that weren't there before slide partially out. They grabbed the books and went to Hermione's common room to read them.

"I found her dream journal." said Ron.

Harry placed the book he had been reading down and looked at the one Ron had. Discovering Hermione's journal was gold. It should shed some light on their investigation. Although, they thought it was unlike her to keep a dream journal. It appeared she developed the habit during her seventh year when they return to finish their final year at Hogwarts. After the war was over, she was having nightmares and recorded down to analyze.

"She's been having consecutive dreams about two bats flying over her head, having conversations she couldn't understand."

"House elves have bat-like ears." Harry said thoughtfully.

"You don't think..." Ron trailed off as he too ran the idea through his mind. "This was dated three years ago."

"They've been in her bedroom. While she's asleep."

Ron's grip on the book tightened. "They've been plotting for three years."

"Maybe more?"

"Let's not jump to conclusions. Read the others first and then discuss theories."

"You're right but this is something to consider."

Both nodded and continued reading. They soon realized that the books were enchanted. Though they seem small and thin, they were actually filled with many years worth of research, and her private thoughts. It was going to take hours or days until they to finish their reading.

0o0

When Draco landed on the ground, one look around told him he was in Paris. He'd visited it enough times to notice the difference in fashion. Though in the area he was, he blended in quote well with the Muggles. No one so much as looked at him. It was good. He didn't need unwanted attention to distract him. The sooner he was through with this the faster he could find Hermione and return home.

As he stride through the streets, he thought of his mission. He was weary of Lacy's daughter. Especially, with the last things she told him. Hopefully, she wouldn't dig her hair into his skin and adsorb him. That would be most unpleasant.

After taking a few steps, he realized that Lacy didn't give him much information to go by. He didn't know who the girl was or how she looked like.

"She's got bright red hair." came Lacy's voice.

"Are you in my head?" Draco wondered out loud.

"Yes. Now the faster you find my daughter the faster you'll see Hermione."

Before Lacy could finish her sentence, Draco had already spotted the back of a familiar head of dark curls.

"Hermione!" he shouted as he ran to hug her.

"Did you forget something?" asked Hermione as she turned around to smile at him.

Draco gasped when he saw Hermione's distended stomach.