To Say Goodbye

Chapter 9

Minutes later, Draco and Harry found themselves seated in Dumbledore's office in two plush velvet chairs. Of course they were waiting on the Headmaster who had told them he would only be gone for a few minutes.

Harry was stupidly admiring all of Dumbledore's possessions from his seat, constantly making obscene noises that only tugged on Draco's nerves. Draco slouched in his chair, twirling his thumbs back and forth.

Just before Draco leapt out of his chair to attack Harry, (he really had no idea why he was so violent now a days) the Headmaster gracefully began to walk down his astronomy tower steps. He was cloaked in a rich purple robe that's edges were etched in gold. Harry noted that he had a cute little bow tied around the middle of his pearly beard.

"Thank you, boys, for being so patient," Dumbledore said in a misty voice, sounding almost as though he hadn't slept in days.

"No problem, Professor," Draco replied lazily.

"Now," Dumbledore began as he started to shuffle through several papers on his desk, "I know that Professor McGonagall has already spoken to both of you, I presume?"

"Yes, Sir," Harry responded with a fake look of pain.

"So I assume you already know that Miss Granger has gone missing," Dumbledore told them solemnly.

"Missing?" Draco repeated.

"Yes, Mr. Malfoy. It appears she was taken by a clan of Death Eaters that were hiding in the Forbidden Forest," Dumbledore told him, half expecting Draco to already know all about it.

Draco swallowed hard as he remembered the night he heard a small group of Death Eaters emerge from the forest that were sending Salazar Slytherin's necklace to Hermione. Yet, why would they want to take her if she already had that necklace? Did they want it back?

"So," Draco began, "why does this involve me?"

"He knows you fancy Hermione, Malfoy," Harry said in a bored tone, as if he were stating the obvious.

Draco blushed a deep crimson and looked sheepishly up at Professor Dumbledore. "Harry's right, Draco," Dumbledore explained, "some say I do see everything."

"They weren't kidding," Draco muttered under his breath.

"If the Death Eaters have Hermione, then there isn't anything we can do, is there?" Harry asked Dumbledore.

"Oh no, Harry," he replied and then looked at Draco with a mischievous twinkle in his eye, "this is where you come in."

Draco nodded for him to continue as he sat up straight in his chair.

"You Draco, and Harry will leave tonight for Malfoy Manor," Dumbledore told him, choosing to ignore the disgusted look on Harry's face. "You must hide Harry immediately after you get there. We already have some diversions set up so you can do just that."

"Twiky?" Draco asked knowingly.

"Yes, indeed," he replied with a smile. "You must find Miss Granger and keep her in good health while I get a...a special group of people ready."

"A special group of people," Harry repeated under his breath with a chuckle for he knew exactly who this special group of people was.

"How am I supposed to keep her in good health while she is in our dungeons?" Draco asked incredulously.

"We are supposed to find her, Malfoy," Harry told him in a tone of annoyance.

"Ok, The Boy Who Should-Not-Speak, how do you suppose we are going to get you past the front gate with out getting caught?" Draco continued.

"That, Mr. Malfoy, has already been arranged," Professor Dumbledore told him, "and don't worry about how you are going to get there, I already have your means of transportation."

Draco and Harry exchanged blank looks. "When do we leave?" Harry asked.

"This evening," the Headmaster replied cheerfully. "You don't need to bring anything important, just Harry's invisibility cloak."

"Invisibility cloak!?" Draco exclaimed. "Since when have we been allowed to have one of those at school?"

"Well, they aren't technically allowed," Dumbledore explained, "I confiscated it from Harry's father his seventh year at Hogwarts. And I figured Harry deserved it."

"That figures," Draco muttered under his breath, "Potter gets everything."

Dumbledore pretended he didn't hear anything and continued explaining the details of their mission. "You are to meet me at the front doors in one hour. When you get to the Manor, there will be a diversion taking place that will give you enough time to get Harry hidden before you father has time to find you. You must then go to your father, speak to him and see if you can find where Miss Granger is -,"

"Do you really expect me to go against my father?" Draco asked curiously. "How do you know that I won't just hand Harry over to my father the moment I arrive?"

"I know you won't because you care too much for Miss Granger," Dumbledore replied with a wink, "and you wouldn't want to disappoint Miss Granger, would you?"

Draco shifted uncomfortably in his seat, "Well...no."

"Then it's settled," Harry broke in, "we accept this mission and plan to complete it successfully."

"Very well," Dumbledore said as he stood and the door to his office opened, "thank you boys. I will see you in one-,"

"Albus!" Professor McGonagall flew into the room followed closely by Professor Snape and Lupin and Madame Pomfrey. "Oh dear, Albus. Miss Weasely's been taken!"

The Professors and Madame Pomfrey all stared at Draco and Harry as if unsure whether or not to continue with them in the room. However, Dumbledore didn't seem to find any problem. "Oh dear," he uttered quietly, "I knew this would happen sooner or later."

"You did?" Professor McGonagall asked incredulously.

"Yes, I believe that owl has been targeting victims," he replied calmly.

"But, how?"

"I believe it is being directed by Lord Voldemort."

~'*~'*~'*~'*~'*~'*~'*~'*~'*~'*~'*~'*

Twiky and Hermione had stopped right outside the bulky wooden doors that led into Lucius's office. For the first time during her stay at the Manor, she felt a jolt of fear cascade through her veins. Hermione looked down at Twiky and received one last pitiful smile before the doors began to slowly open on their own.

"Good lucks, Miss," Twiky whispered loudly and then turned to walk back down the passageway they had just come down.

Hermione sucked in a deep breath and then stepped inside Lucius's office. His office looked nothing like she had imagined. She had suspected one similar to Dumbledore's with thousands of random artifacts from different wizarding cities and times. Yet his office was simple with a large sandstone fireplace, and surrounded wall to wall with bookcases filled with what could have been millions of books. The ceiling was dark except for the little bar of light that streamed in through a narrow window just inches from the rim of the room that could have been thirty to forty high.

As she stood in amused awe, she just barely noticed that someone was sitting in the desk directly in front of the fire. "It's nice to finally get the chance to speak with you, Miss Granger," Lucius Malfoy drawled in a very Draco like fashion.

Hermione's steel gaze met Lucius's striking sapphire eyes and crooked grin. She couldn't believe just how much of Lucius's look Draco had managed to inherit.. Hermione didn't respond to Lucius's greeting, instead she stood frozen and prepared to face whatever he threw at her.

"Please," Lucius said as he leaned towards her from his desk and motioned towards the chair in front of him, "sit down."

Hermione, not sure of what else to do, walked over to the chair Lucius had motioned to and plopped down with her arms crossed.

Lucius chuckled, "I see you are trying to guard yourself against me, Miss Granger. Don't worry though, I won't bite."

Hermione shifted uncomfortably in her chair. "Why am I here?" she asked bitterly, wanting to get to the main point as quickly as possible.

Lucius put on a look of fake surprise, "What? You mean you actually haven't figured it out for yourself? Draco has told me that you are the most intelligent witch currently attending Hogwarts. Not to mention, clever."

"I've had ideas," Hermione lied, she really had no idea why she was kidnapped, "but I would rather hear the truth from you."

"What makes you think I will tell you the truth?" Lucius smiled wickedly.

Hermione cast her gaze away from his and hugged herself tighter. "I just figured that since you always manage to come up with brilliant plans that you wouldn't feel the need to keep them hidden once you have kidnapped those that are important to your success."

Lucius grin grew wider, "Now I see why my son said you would be a hard target to knock down. However, we still managed to get you without any trouble."

Hermione's face fell, as did her guard. "What has Draco got to do with this?" she asked, desperately hoping he would say anything but that he had helped kidnap her.

"Draco?" Lucius repeated. "Why, it was Draco's part of our little plan to get you out of the way so-,"

"Draco knew you were going to kidnap me?" she breathed painfully.

"Well, of course," Lucius replied, "and he did a fine job of it now didn't he?"

"But...all that time...he said he was helping me," she said more to herself then to anyone in particular.

"My son is a wonderful servant to the Dark Lord, Miss Granger," Lucius told her coolly as he stood from his chair and moved towards one of the several bookcases that lined the walls of his room. "He plans on taking over my position once I'm gone."

Hermione couldn't speak. She just watched in horror as Lucius sifted through a few tattered dust covered books. She had trusted Draco with her life. Her eyes never left Lucius's back as though she were afraid he would pull something when she wasn't looking.

"Anyway, Miss Granger," Lucius said as he pulled a book out a flipped through the first few pages, "did you enjoy that book I sent for you to read?"

"Yes," she replied hesitantly, "I just don't understand why you sent it to me."

"You haven't?" he replied and walked back to his desk. "You must not be that far into it yet."

Hermione looked at him quizzically. "The owl is in it, isn't it?"

"My, my you are a clever little witch aren't you?" Lucius told her sarcastically. "I figured you would like to read how your little friend is going to die."

Before Hermione could respond there was a loud crash outside Lucius's office, followed closely by a series of tiny little elf screams. Lucius cursed and threw the book down on his desk.

Hermione watched in wonder as he tore out of the room and Twiky dashed in. The little elf scurried up to Hermione in a fit of giggles. "Hurry, Misses. Master told me to take yous back to your dungeon."

Hermione immediately jumped at the opportunity to get out of the murky office and followed Twiky out into the entrance hall where she saw several house elves running about in a crazed laugher.

"Someone let all the chickens out of the kitchens, Misses," Twiky told Hermione as they hurried away from the scene.

From the look on Twiky's amused face, Hermione figured she knew who had released the chickens. "And why would someone want to release the chickens?"

Twiky didn't reply. She did, however, take a very sharp left turn and continued running quickly down another corridor. Hermione, suddenly deciding she didn't feel like going back to the dungeons, turned in the opposite direction and starting walking.

Apparently Twiky didn't notice Hermione had left, because she hadn't found her after nearly ten minutes of mindless wandering. Just as Hermione finished walking up the billionth staircase she heard two pairs of footsteps and the sound of two boys hissing insults at one another.

Hermione dashed behind one of the million marble statues that lined the hallway and listened closely. For a moment she couldn't understand what was being said, that was until she realized that they were still walking in her direction and were most likely going to find her if she didn't do something quick. However, they stopped a few doors down across the hall from her and opened a door.

"Now, stay in here and don't do anything stupid until I get back," she heard a very familiar voice hiss from the open door. "Do you understand?"

"Yes Master Draco," she heard who she thought was Harry say lamely then followed with a laugh.

"Shut up, Potter," the other boy Hermione had concluded must be Draco, "I'm serious. If you get caught it will be the end for both of us."

"I know, Malfoy...I won't do anything stupid," Harry told him sincerely.

"Good," Draco told him then backed away from the door, "I'll be back in a minute."

Hermione heard Draco shut the door and start walking away from her hiding place. She glanced around the corner and watched him disappear around the corner. Very quietly, she crept from behind her statue and walked into the room Harry was in.

~'*~'*~'*~'*~'*~'*~'*~'*~'*~'*~'*~'*

"Now, Potter, listen closely," Draco whispered as he and Harry walked away from the port key that had brought them to Malfoy Manor. "The moment we walk through that door," he said as he pointed to an enormous elegant mahogany door, "you can't make a sound or else my father will find out that you are here and probably kill you...and me."

Harry nodded and grinned, "Gotcha, Draco."

Draco jumped at the sound of his name coming from Harry's mouth. "We are not on a first name basis, Potter," he hissed, "I never ever want to hear my name run through your mouth ever again."

"Gotcha," Harry replied, "Blondie."

Draco shot Harry one more venomous look as they approached the front doors. Draco motioned for Harry to hide himself under his invisibility cloak while he walked quickly in front and reached for the door handle. The moment he pushed open the creaky mahogany door, mayhem broke loose.

Draco was alarmed to see what appeared to several Patronus forms dancing about in his entrance hall. Harry, however, chuckled lightly. "This must be the diversion Dumbledore set up," he said to Draco as he glanced around the room and down the closest hallways for an escape route...just in case.

"Most likely," Draco agreed, and then motioned with a nod of his head for Harry to follow him, "but even if it is, we have to hurry and get you hidden."

Harry complied and followed Draco down a hallway and up a few flights of house elf staircases. He was surprised that Draco could walk down these corridors and never get lost. Harry was beginning to feel dizzy from all the twist and turns they had been taking. And then thought he had gone crazy when he saw Draco walk through a solid stone wall.

Harry stood, dumbstruck for a few moments, before Draco's platinum head popped back through the wall. "Potter, in case you have already forgotten, this is a Wizard's Mansion. It's not uncommon to walk through solid walls here," Draco told him matter-of-factly. Harry raised his eyebrows at this though. Apparently, Hermione had made more of an effect on Draco then Harry had originally thought.

After walking through three more stone walls and down even more hallways, and Draco's constant reassurance that this was a short cut, they finally arrived outside of the first normal door Harry had seen since he had arrived. Draco reached out and pushed it open, then followed by pushing Harry in with it.

"Now, stay in here and don't do anything stupid until I get back," Draco hissed with a pointed finger, as if already accusing Harry of screwing the mission up for them before it began. "Do you understand?"

"Yes Master Draco," Harry replied cheekily, then laughed.

"Shut up, Potter," Draco spat, and then put his hands on his hips in a very Mrs. Weasley like fashion, "I'm serious. If you get caught it will be the end for both of us."

"I know, Malfoy...I won't do anything stupid," Harry told him sincerely.

"Good," Draco told him then backed away from the door, "I'll be back in a minute."

Harry pushed the door slightly closed as he heard Draco's steps vanish down the hallway. He then observed his surroundings and noticed that he was in a bedroom; and not just any bedroom, but Draco's bedroom. He laughed to himself lightly when he acknowledged a small mangled teddy bear lying hopelessly on Draco's satin black pillows.

Harry noticed that Draco's room looked similar to the Dungeon's at Hogwarts, cold and dark. He walked over to Draco's vast ebony four poster bed and delicately touched the velvet black curtains. He was in awe for he had never seen a room so magnificent, yet so alone, in his entire life.

"Harry?" a voice questioned him as he heard the faint click of the door being shut. "Is that you?"

He turned around and found a familiar shadow advancing towards him, "Hermione?"

"Harry," she breathed and stepped out into the moonlight, "what's going on, what are you doing here?"

Harry glanced down at Hermione's pitiful form. She looked weak and tired, but stronger then ever. She had her arms crossed and was shivering in the chill of the room. "Malfoy and I have come to save you," he replied gleefully, feeling once again like the hero he missed so much.

"Save me?" she repeated slowly, trying to remember what Lucius had just told her. "Harry, I don't think neither you nor I are ever leaving this castle."

~'*~'*~'*~'*~'*~'*~'*~'*~'*~'*~'*~'*

Only minutes after Ron left, Sirius had reentered his cave and was preparing to settle down for the night. After he had made his bed he walked over to the fire and examined the Death Eaters hood carefully in the light.

"M. Bristow," he whispered once he found a name scribbled on the inside of the hood. "Who's M. Bristow?"

"M. stands for Mertonia," a woman spat harshly from behind. Sirius felt a spear of pain engulf his eyes as someone hit him bluntly on the back of the head. "Mertonia Bristow. And I believe that belongs to me."

Sirius was still holding the hood in one hand as the other was placed gingerly where he had just been hit. "You know, Black, you have been quiet a nuisance since you escaped Azkaban Prison," the woman snarled, "and quite frankly, I'm getting sick of it."

Once his vision came back in focus, he saw what could have been twelve Death Eaters surrounding him and his fire. Mertonia, of course, appeared to be the ring leader of them all.

Sirius fell to the ground again and howled in pain as Mertonia uttered his last curse, "There is only one way to deal with people who have already seen too much for far too long."

His vision darkened until he could see no more. In a way, this was pleasant. At least the pain had receded. Yet so had he.