Unexpected Death Eaters

The sound of an owl taping on the window broke through the silence of the room. He opened the window to find a large, black eagle owl with a letter in its beak. He knew who this owl belonged to, but why would the owner of this particular owl be writing to him was beyond him. He took the rolled up parchment from the owl and it took off with a loud screech.

He stared at the letter in his hand, letting his hand glide of its seal. He didn't trust it, just like he didn't trust the owner of the owl. Carefully he unrolled the parchment, which revealed two small sentences written in an all too familiar script.

Change of location. Godric's Hollow under where the Potter house used to stand.

He sighed as he threw the letter onto a nearby table. Godric's Hollow was not in his top ten places to go list, but nevertheless, he had to go.

*****

Draco eventually dozed off in his chair as he waited for Dumbledore to return. For how long exactly, he did not know, but the next thing he saw when he looked up at the desk was the headmaster sitting there quietly reading over a copy of the Daily Prophet. As if sensing he was awake, Dumbledore looked up from the paper with one of his child like smiles.

"Ah, Mr. Malfoy, I see you are awake now. I must say that it was some what of a surprise seeing you asleep in my office when I walked in; I would have woke you up, but you looked like you could use the rest."

Draco just stared at the headmaster groggily as his mind still took it's time to wake up.

Dumbledore examined the younger wizard over his half moon spectacles. "Is there something you wish to speak to me about, Mr. Malfoy?"

As if a light went off in Draco's head and he bolted upright in his chair. "Professor, they have Potter!"

The smile faded from Dumbledore's face and was replaced with a solemn look. "Yes, I figured that was why you were here."

Draco didn't hide his puzzlement. "What?"

"Molly Weasley sent me an owl saying that Ron and Harry had gone to meet Hermione at the Leaky Cauldron. When she found out, she and Remus went to find them, but when they got there it was too late, they were already gone."

"If you already knew that Potter was captured, may I ask why the hell are you sitting on your ass instead of out there looking for him?" Draco knew that Potter was Dumbledore's favorite when they were students in school; so the fact that he was sitting in his office while Voldemort could be doing God knows what to Potter didn't make sense to him.

"Before Molly's letter, I received one from Minerva stating that you had been looking for me. Since I was caught up in my other affairs at the moment I could not come right away, but after receiving Molly's letter I saw how urgent the situation was and came back as fast as I could, knowing that you would try to contact me again." Dumbledore's face became more serious as he leaned forward in his chair, placing his elbows on the desk in front of him. "Now Mr. Malfoy, I need you to tell me everything you know."

"Well, Hermione did it. She gave Potter to Voldemort. Hermione and I had to transport him to this little prison he has in Godric's Hollow. In fact it's located underground, right under where the Potter house used to stand."

Dumbledore sat back in his chair and twiddled his thumbs as he thought about the situation at hand. Draco just stared at the older wizard. He knew that his information was helpful in saving Potter, but why did he feel like it wasn't enough?

Even though only a few minutes had passed, it felt like hours when Dumbledore finally stood up from his desk. "I thank you Mr. Malfoy for the information you have just shared with me. But I'm afraid we can't do anything at this moment for Harry though. I'm sure that Voldemort has wards put up all around that prison, so busting in is not an option. I will call the Order together so we can figure out which action to take. I hate to leave like this, but if we don't act fast, we could be too late."

Draco stood from his chair. "Is there anything I can do, Professor?"

"I'm afraid at this point, no, Mr. Malfoy, but I thank you, once again, for everything." With that said, Dumbledore went over to where Fawkes, his phoenix, sat on his perch. Fawkes rose into the air and Dumbledore grabbed his feet. With a loud screech and flash of bright light, they were gone.

Draco was left, just standing there by the desk, grinding his teeth. Nothing he could do? He was a Malfoy; no one could tell him that. We'll see about that.

*****

Hermione was in the middle of reading Hogwarts, A History, again, when the soft pop of someone Apparating sounded out through the tiny room. She looked up expecting to see Draco, but instead was surprised to see Lucius.

Marking her page with a bookmark, she stood up from her chair, setting the closed book down in her place. "What brings you here, Lucius?"

"I'm looking for Draco," he said as he looked around the room, "but I see that he isn't here."

"He said he had to run a few errands."

Lucius' roaming eyes finally landed on Hermione. The look behind them gave her an unsettling feeling in the pit of her stomach. He took a few steps towards her.

"You know what these cells were used for during the first war?" he asked in the usual Malfoy drawl. Hermione shook her head. Lucius took three more steps, leaving about a three inch gap between them. "To torture people," he paused to lean close to her ear. "Mostly traitors," he added, barely above a whisper.

For some reason Hermione didn't know how to reply to this. She couldn't unlock her eyes from his, she felt as if she was in some trance. Suddenly being in this close proximity to Lucius unnerved her. She wanted to take a step back but her legs were ignoring her mind's screaming orders.

"I never would have guessed," was all she came up with after moments of silence had passed.

"We found Muggle forms of torture to be more sufficient than any curse. Not to mention they were more fun to use." He slowly took his hand to tuck a loose tendril behind her ear. Hermione had become so lost in Lucius' fierce grey eyes, that it was just then that she noticed he had snaked one of his arms around her waist.

"Hermione," he whispered as he violently pulled her body to his.

"L-Lucius, pl-please don't..."

Hermione was cut off as Lucius' other hand roughly yanked a handful of hair down, bending her next upwards, making her face the ceiling, exposing her neck to him. She felt her breathing increase into short fast breaths as her panic rose. Her vision started to blur as her eyes filled to the rim with tears that were fighting to break free. Then she felt his hot breath trail across her neck, sending a sensational rush throughout her body.

His mouth stopped by her left ear and his tightened his grip on her hair. "Tell me what are you doing, Hermione," he breathed into her ear.

Before Hermione could find her voice to answer, the torches in the room started to burn blue. Lucius' grip on her hair loosened as his attention switched to the blue flames. Hermione finally came to her senses and used this moment to place her hands on both his shoulders and roughly push him away. Caught off guard, he stumbled backwards, but his attention was still fixed on the torches.

Taking a moment to let her breathing go back down to a normal rate, Hermione set Lucius with a stern glare. "Don't you ever..." she began, but stopped when Lucius held up his hand to silence her.

"Quiet, Witch! Someone is coming." Lucius kept his eyes on the ceiling. It looked as if he half expected it to cave in on them.

The sound of crunching grass could be heard above them. It started out soft, but became louder as whoever it was came closer. Hermione noticed as the noise became louder, the torches would glow a more intense shade of blue.

Then the sound stopped, but the flames still were a bright shade of blue. Hermione watched as Lucius withdrew his wand from his robes, his eyes still fixed on the ceiling.

The pop of someone Apparating into the room sounded from behind them. As soon as the sound was heard, Lucius spun around and shouted, "Stupefy!" sending a red spark flying in the direction of the noise.

Draco barely missed the red bolt of light as he dove to the side, landing with a loud thud on the ground.

"Nice to see you too, Father," he sneered as he stood up and brushed the dirt from the floor off of his robes.

"Maybe now you'll remember that you shouldn't sneak up on people," Lucius said as he returned his wand to his robe pocket.

Draco decided to ignore the older wizard's comment and turned his attention to Hermione.

"How is Potter doing?" he asked with a nod in the direction of the cell.

"O-oh, he is still unconscious," Hermione replied while she faked a smile. There was something off with Hermione's behavior; Draco could only assume it had to do with Lucius.

"Father, is there a reason for your presence here or did you not have anywhere else to go?"

"Aren't we in quite the mood today?" Lucius flashed a small smirk before his face hardened. "You better watch that attitude of yours, Draco, or we are going to need to have a little...talk. Now, I'm late for an appointment with our Lord." Without another word he Disapparated.

After Lucius left, Draco watched as a shaken Hermione sat down in her chair, only to jump up again realizing there was a book there already. She took out her wand and vanished the book and then sat in her seat.

"Hermione, you seem rattled, did Lucius say something that scared you?"

Hermione looked up at Draco with wide eyes. She closed her eyes and exhaled loudly. When she opened her eyes, they, along with the rest of her body, seemed more relaxed.

"No, he didn't. You scared us though. What were you doing walking around up there?"

Draco didn't believe her, but he wasn't going to force something out that she didn't want to discuss. "I had Apparated into town. Wanted to see its sites; which aren't much I might add. How did you know I walked over here?"

"We could hear your footsteps down here. As you got closer, the flames on the torches turned a bright blue. It's like an alarm system I guess."

So, this was the almighty ward that Voldemort put up. No, that can't be all. There has to be more; that is just too simple.

"Do you think there are other alarms or wards put around this place?"

Hermione's eyebrow furrowed as she thought about the question. "I would like to think so, but what they are, I don't know. He wouldn't need much though because this place is well hidden and you can't exactly come in unless you know where to go. I think the alarm is very sensitive though. My guess is you could fly over the place on a broom and it would still sense you. It's all he really-"

Hermione was interrupted by the sound of a loud moan, which didn't come for either her or Draco. The figure in the cell behind her was starting to stir.

"Looks like Potty is up," Draco said as he stepped towards the cell. Hermione stepped in his way before he could reach it, panic in her eyes.

Draco looked down at her. "Is there a reason you're blocking my way?"

"Uh...Harry is waking up, right?"

"Yes and I'm going over there to see him." Draco tried to step around Hermione.

"No!" she shrieked stepping in front of him again.

"No?" He asked with a raised eyebrow.

"No...If Harry...No, when Harry wakes up he will be furious, and seeing you would make him even more angry. You do not want to see Harry mad."

"Hermione, he is behind bars and wandless, I don't think I'll have a problem." Draco successfully stepped around Hermione and went to stand next to Harry's cell. Another moan escaped his lips and he sat up.

"Now Potter, is all of that moaning really necessary?"

Harry looked up at Draco with a fierce glare. "Malfoy," he said with anger evident in his voice.

Draco watched as Harry stood up and walked over to the bars so that their faces were mere inches apart. Harry's emerald eyes were blazing and he glared him down. Draco gave Harry the usual up down, taking in his clothes, stance, and everything else about him. He let his eyes rest on the infamous scar a moment before letting his eyes find Harry's. Draco noticed that Harry's fierce stare seemed to be forced, that behind it was clearly a look of fear. This shocked him. He always thought as Harry as that stubborn Gryffindor who was too stupid to realize when he needed to stop trying to be the fearless hero. He expected to see anger and betrayal in those green eyes, not fear.

Hermione grabbed Draco by the arm and tried to pull him away from the bars. "I think you need to leave. Harry and I need to have a little talk."

Draco pulled his arm from Hermione's grip. "I'm sure it's nothing I can't hear."

Hermione opened her mouth to respond, but was interrupted by the 'pop' of someone Apparating.

"Draco!" It was Lucius, a seething one at that.

As he turned to face the older wizard, Draco spoke in his usual drawl, "What now, Fath-"

Lucius was already there though and was pinning Draco with his forearm against his neck against Harry's cell.

"Don't Father me," Lucius spat out.

"W-w-wh..." Draco tried to speak, but he couldn't talk with Lucius' arm pushing on his neck. Hermione just stood there staring at the two wizards in shock, obviously not knowing what to do.

"I am disgusted with you. You...you of all people!" Lucius increased the pressure on Draco's neck, causing him to start gagging and gasping for air. He tried to push Lucius away, but every attempt failed. "You call yourself a Malfoy and you work for Dumbledore! I will not tolerate that, Draco. Oh, no. Not only that, but I hear this from our... no, my Lord of all people. How embarrassing to have my son betraying not only my Lord, but me as well. You are more than a disappointment, Draco, you are a disgrace."

Draco's face had gone from a bright shade of red into a deep shade of purple. On Lucius' livid face, an evil smirk appeared and his eyes lit up with a crazy glint as he pushed his forearm further into Draco's neck.

"I'm not sorry to say I won't miss you, Draco," he whispered into his choking son's ear.

Draco's eyes began to close as they rolled into the back of his head, and the struggle ceased. The last thing Draco saw were the furious grey eyes of his father burning into his.