A/N: Trigger warning at end of chapter
"Mila, pst, Mila," the girl heard Jack hissing at her, in what he believed was a low tone, but Mila had to disagree. Mila finished putting together her breakfast before she finally looked up at the irritating boy.
"I'm sorry, do I know you?" She asked the messy haired annoyance sitting across the table from her. "I do believe, if I'm not mistaken by your robes, your house table is on the other side of the hall, might you bother them instead of me?"
"Did you see the Prophet yet?" He asked, ignoring her rudeness and sliding the paper over, nearly crawling across the space knocking into some second year he'd squeezed next to.
Mila rolled her eyes before lifting the paper from the table when she saw what he was going on about. Never before had she been pictured in the paper; her mother had been very diligent in keeping her safe from the public eye. She'd never understood why, but now she saw her mother's reasoning being laid out before her. A photograph of her with her mum and brother next to her paternal grandfather's horrifying mugshot on the front page. It was clear by just looking at Milo who his father was, and for him to be walking around with Hermione and Mila, well, the pieces were all too easy for anyone to put together.
The man, Lucius Malfoy, was glaring at her, his sneer and gaze holding so much hate that she nearly dropped the paper. It was as if he were looking into her soul and knew that she was the bane of his existence. "When did this…" she asked, trailing off as the words didn't seem able to come.
"Friday, apparently he's getting released in a month, he was supposed to be in until August, but good behaviour or some rot." Jack said, leaning across the table, this time knocking over Ethan's pumpkin juice in the process, making the older boy curse out the Gryffindor. "What do you think this is going to mean for you and Milo?" He asked, looking towards the doors, as if saying her twin's name would cause him to appear. He usually came up from the common room with her, but today he'd told her to go ahead, odd but not completely unusual.
"I don't know," she murmured looking back at the picture where she was looking up at her brother smiling and laughing at something she'd just said teasing him. "I mean, he's still in prison and when he gets out, he won't have anything, right? That's why Draco is Lord Malfoy and has control of everything. Well, that is unless his wife takes him back to France with her, I suppose." Mila knew that was highly unlikely as she stared into the face of the man who would most likely stop at nothing now that he knew that she existed, sullying his blood line.
"I can write to dad, maybe he'll have an idea," Jack stated, looking worried, which was a very rare occurrence for the Gryffindor boy. "I mean, he is Head Auror, you'd think he'd know something about such a high-profile person being released."
"It'll be fine," Mila said, letting out a sigh and pushing away from the table. "I'm going to go find Milo and see what he thinks," she said, walking towards the doors and heading into the dungeons. Something in the back of her mind kept telling Mila that there was something happening, she could be wrong, but her mother had taught her to always trust her instincts and that was what Mila was wanting to do right now.
She knocked shoulders with Warrington and didn't even reply when he shot off a snarky remark in her direction as she would have on any other day. The feeling of impending danger held her so tightly that the only thing Mila cared about was how quickly she could get to Milo and see that he was okay. With her thoughts racing, Mila never even noticed when someone came up behind her. When the spell hit her between the shoulders, the world was dark before she even hit the floor.
ooo
Hermione sat clutching Draco's hand in his home office as they waited with Harry for their former housemate to come through the floo. After the memory recovered the Friday before, Dean and Harry had been working tirelessly together over the weekend and it appeared the private investigator had finally found something. Though they'd been waiting an hour since he'd said he would be joining them, making Hermione a bit nervous for Dean and what sort of trouble he might have found himself in. With his line of work, anything was possible, and unlike Harry, Dean didn't have the power of their government backing him for safety.
Draco gave her hand an encouraging squeeze, but Hermione didn't look away from the fireplace as she waited. If it wasn't the first thing Monday morning, Hermione would have poured herself a firewhisky, as it was though, she instead sipped on her coffee. The aches in her body were getting worse by the day and the fatigue that had overcome her recently was especially bad that morning. She knew the stress of the situation was affecting her, but this was getting ridiculous.
The green flames came to life at last, and Hermione stood from her seat next to Draco, waiting for Dean to come through the floo. As he pulled his hat off his head and brushed the soot from his dark trench coat, Hermione had to bite her tongue to keep herself from screaming at the man to hurry up. Now was not the time to be irrational, but to proceed with caution and an open mind, he was here on business, and he had been out of the country chasing leads all weekend.
"Good morning, everyone, sorry for the delay. My portkey from Germany had a bit of a holdup," the man apologised, making the other three exchange a look. Germany? She hadn't been told anything about Germany in any of their floo calls, but then again, Dean never was very open with his work until he had some solid evidence.
"What did you find in Germany?" Harry asked, pushing his glasses up his nose with one finger. Even with the innocent movement, he looked every bit the part of Head Auror as he stood crossing his arms over his broad chest in his official maroon robes. The bags under his eyes were clearly visible, but still he was alert as ever.
"The charms master was a German bloke, Klaus Von Schmitt." Dean paused, pulling a cigarette from the inside pocket of his coat and lighting it, taking a long drag, his eyes closed as he did so. "The original payment came from a vault in Scandinavia that was registered to a Nicholas Foy, which I discovered is a pseudonym for Lucius Malfoy. The money transfers into that account went through an array of transactions before landing there. It looks to be years in the making, honestly. It's almost as if he knew he was going to be stripped of his title as Lord of the house long before it actually happened, the first deposit dating back as far as 1981 after mouldy voldy first fell from power."
"So, my father paid this man?" Draco asked, clarifying the information that they'd just been given. "He's responsible for my obliviation?"
"Yes, and no. While he funded the charms master, he isn't the one who sought him out for hire. That was Winston Greengrass, though he did a much poorer job covering his tracks than old Lucy did. Just blackmailed some poor guy to go speak to the German for him, and then he had the blackmailed guy obliviated." Dean took another drag of his cigarette before tossing it into the fireplace behind him. "Here's my file with all the proof," he said, pulling out a large envelope from a pocket and handing it to Harry. "There's enough there to bring up charges against both men, and the charm master, especially since the guy isn't licensed and could have really fucked Malfoy's head up. Bloke lost his licence in the sixties after a series of well, unfortunate incidents that I'd rather not repeat in conversation. So, anyway, I haven't slept in about thirty-six hours, so I'm going to go home and crash, if you need anything else–"
"We'll be in touch," Harry said, stepping forward and shaking Dean's hand. "Thank you for all this, it should be enough for my office to step in." Dean nodded, then turned towards Hermione and Draco who he gave each a quick nod before disappearing through the floo.
The three of them stood in silence, letting the information that Dean had just given them sink in. The thought that Draco's own father had played such a key role, causing turmoil in the blonde's life, had said wizard clenching his fist, breathing deeply.
Sensing the high tensions in the room, Harry cleared his throat, clearly uncomfortable with the situation he found himself in. "I'll give the two of you some time," Harry finally said, moving towards the fireplace, clutching the folder as he too disappeared into the flames, heading straight for his office.
The remaining pair stood in silence, as if the world had slowly stopped turning and each were just floating trying to decide what to do next. Hermione now knew the names of the men who had been so against her and Draco's happiness and had stolen her family from her for fourteen years, but Draco… Draco had to come face to face with the fact that his father and his father-in-law had knowingly taken a good portion of his life for their own selfish reasons. He had to come to terms with the fact that he'd missed most of his children's childhood, all because two men had decided his life and had forced him into something. Just as he had been forced when he was a boy.
Hermione went to open her mouth to say something, but Draco was moving across the room and towards the fireplace before she could say any words of comfort. "Draco, Draco!" Hermione called running after him. "Draco, where the fuck are you going?" She asked, just as he grabbed the small bag of floo powder from the mantle.
"I'm going to go speak with Winston Greengrass, he can't do this to me and get away with it. I want him to know that the Aurors are coming for him and I'm coming for everything else. By the time I'm done with him, there will be nothing left of the Greengrass name, besides ruins." Draco snarled his answer, causing Hermione to pull her hand back in shock as she hadn't heard him speak like this since they'd been reacquainted.
"Draco, you can't go storming onto the Greengrass estate by yourself!" Hermione exclaimed, reaching out to take the man's arm, but he pulled out of her grasp. "If you're going then I'm coming with you," she said after squaring her shoulders. "There's nothing good that comes from this, I hope you know that."
Draco turned to look at her, as if he were seeing her for the first time, and not really understanding what she was saying. Hermione only rolled her eyes before motioning towards the hearth that was still warm from the previous uses. "We're a team, I'm not going to let you go off into enemy territory without me. I won't lose you again," Hermione whispered the last words, but Draco heard her. Taking her hand, he called out the home of his former in-laws and together they went.
Though, as they bent to enter the foyer, Hermione was surprised to see how bare most of the walls were. In every other pureblood home, she'd been to, art and tapestries had covered nearly every section, making it appear lavish and extravagant. The Greengrass home, however, looked as if it were nearly deserted. Not a single vase or rug could be seen either, Hermione had to wonder what was happening here.
Draco didn't stop to take in the sight, and walked straight towards the entrance, pushing through the doors. His footsteps could be heard clicking against the wooden floors, but not another sound met her ears.
"Draco," Hermione hissed, pulling her wand from its holster and rushing forwards after him. "Draco!" She called out a bit louder, but Draco was a man on a mission, and it seemed that his curse breaker training was alluding him at the moment. "Draco Malfoy, you stop–" Hermione was chiding, but when she reached the grand staircase, her wand arm dropped at the sight.
Anita Greengrass laid, bound and gagged, on her side silently sobbing. Her grey hair hung loose around her thin shoulders, and her sage green eyes were the same that Hermione remembered her eldest daughter, Daphne, having. Her face though, was all Astoria. Had the other witch been given the chance to live to be this age, Hermione imagined this is exactly how she would have looked. The woman's body shook and when she finally noticed Draco and Hermione standing before her, she began to squirm, attempting to break free of the ropes that bound her.
Hermione rushed forwards, dropping to her knees as she began to check the woman for any injuries as she released the spells and binds on the elder witch. "What happened to you?" Hermione asked, holding the woman's face in her hands as she checked her eyes for a concussion. "Did you fall, does anything hurt? Who did this to you?"
"The children, please, can't–" The witch threw her head back and cried out in agony causing Hermione to run her wand over her, casting a basic diagnostic.
"There's nothing being detected, I don't understand where the pain is coming from," Hermione said. "Lady Greengrass, I'm going to get you some help, I promise–"
"No, no, I'm fine." The woman said, her chest heaving up and down as she tried to desperately settle her breathing. "The marriage bond–" she threw her head back again, crying out from the pain that was coursing through her body at the mere mention of the bond she had with Winston.
"She can't reveal her husband's secrets or go against him without causing herself extreme pain. It's, well it's a marriage bond that was outlawed before my grandparents wed." Draco explained crouching down in front of the witch who was withering in pain and sweat pouring off her body. "The only thing she can do is submit to his will, unless the bond is broken."
"How can we break the bond?" Hermione asked, her heart clenching as she thought about what the answer was going to be.
"Death," Draco replied, casting a cooling charm on the woman, as if that were the most, he was able to do for her. It seemed to at least help some, because Anita's body stopped convulsing for a moment, her eyes still shut tight though, as if she were putting all her will and concentration into what she was about to do.
Holding their breaths, it felt like ages, but it was more likely only moments until the witch on the ground was able to speak again.
"The children…Winston…" Anita gasped for breath, tears streaming down her eyes as her body began to tremble again, "abducted." When the final word passed her lips, the witch fainted from the pain.
"The children?" Hermione asked, looking up at Draco. "What children would Winston Greengrass…" Hermione trailed off, not needing to finish her train of thought.
Dropping the witch's hand, Hermione turned and sprinted towards the front room that she'd been in only moments earlier. The fireplace was already cold, despite having just been used. "Accio floo powder," Hermione called while holding her wand up, but nothing came. "ACCIO FLOO POWDER!" Hermione screamed, but still nothing came.
Running back to where Draco was, lifting Anita into his arms, he shook his head. "I'd bet she was trying to get away and Winston wouldn't let her. We're going to need to use the knight bus to get her to Mungo's, I can't apparate with her in this condition."
"What about the kids?" Hermione asked, as they ran out the front door and towards the edge of the property. "I need to get to Hogwarts; I might be able to stop him before he can get them."
Draco only nodded his head as they continued to run through the overgrown property, stopping and stepping over all the fallen branches, making sure they didn't get hurt in the process. Hermione looked over her shoulder at the house and wasn't entirely shocked at this point to see that it appeared more or less to be an abandoned building. Whatever bad luck had befallen on the Greengrass family; it was clear that they were in a state of desperation.
If only Hermione could find it in herself to care, because at the moment the only thing she wanted to do was find Winston Greengrass and show him exactly who he'd messed with. If he touched a hair on any of her children's heads, she knew a few good spells that would make him regret all his life choices, and she was more than willing to use them against him.
As they reached the property line, Draco held out his wand arm, calling for the bus to take them into London. Just as the purple double decker appeared, Hermione found herself frozen at the sight of Harry's stag approaching her.
"Mione, where are you? I went back to Malfoy's, but you were both gone. The twins, they've been taken from the school grounds, Neville confirmed. Jack called, he said he had a bad feeling, and…I already have a team at Hogwarts, but I need you and Malfoy to get to the Ministry as quickly as possible. I'll try contacting Dean to see if he has any ideas."
The stag disappeared and Hermione's legs gave out. Her children were missing. Winston Greengrass had gotten to them, and Hermione wasn't sure what he was going to do next. She refused to let her worst fears take hold, but as she sat in the overgrown grass and weeds, Draco speaking to her, but none of the words coming through, the only thing that pushed her to stand and apparate straight to Hogwarts was that Winston was going to pay.
A/N: Kidnapping