The Joining of the Three

Chapter 6

In the course of their many years together, Renae had seen many sides to Sabastian Delaney…mostly dark ones. She wasn't, however, prepared for the almost maniacal giddiness that radiated from him now.

"Milord?" she asked, her voice smooth and even. "Where am I to go today?"

"Nowhere, Renae. We have other things to prepare for now. Witches and wizards are flocking to Hogwarts for protection from you. It's only a matter of time before she joins them. And when that happens, we must act quickly."

"Sabastian…" she began tentatively. There was no reaction from him outside of a raised hand. Renae backpedaled into the submissive role he'd placed her in more and more often since the fixation began. "Forgive my impertinence, Milord, but Hogwarts is known to be inaccessible. How is that -" she cut off abruptly when he stood and whirled towards her.

"Not exactly inaccessible," Sabastian smiled at her, turned and left the sitting room, laughing loudly.

Renae tried to steady herself as violent tremors wracked her body. At some point during his pursuit of this woman, he had gone utterly insane. The eyes that she now looked into were not the eyes of the man she had once known and loved. Instead, they reflected a wild obsession; the soul of a man gone mad with his quest for vengeance

She realized that she could no longer handle the situation alone. She needed help.

^*^*^*^*^

Hermione arrived at the front entrance to Weasley's not ten minutes after she'd left Harry in the library. She'd opted against traveling by Floo powder. Even though the evening had turned brisk, she needed the fresh air and the time -- to clear her mind and collect her thoughts. Harry had insisted she use the Invisibility Cloak, and she had without argument.

"Hello, Lissanne," Hermione called to the witch behind the counter as she breezed past. "Open a little late tonight, aren't you?"

"Did you forget that it's a Hogsmeade weekend tomorrow?" Lissanne smiled back. "It'll take at least another two hours before I'm ready for the invasion."

Hermione chuckled as she walked straight back to the office. "I'm just going to run up and see Ron for a moment," she said airily.

"I don't think he's there," Lissanne's brow creased. "He said something about heading off to London for a resupply of Canary Creams."

"Then I'll just leave him a message if he isn't there."

"Shall I walk you up?" Lissanne was clearly protective of her employer's private quarters, and Hermione respected that. But she knew that he was up there and didn't want an audience.

"That's quite all right," Hermione smiled and made her way up the stairs. But she could feel the woman's eyes following her.

Once she reached the landing, Hermione knocked three times in rapid succession, paused, then repeated. They'd decided on the code knock so that Mariah wouldn't have to conceal herself when she or Harry came to visit.

The door swung open by itself, and Hermione walked through quickly, shutting the door behind her. Ron and Mariah were on the couch facing each other; Ron had his wand out. Hermione nearly sent herself into premature labor holding back the laughter.

"Am I interrupting?" she said, tongue in cheek.

"Nope," Ron answered without looking up. "Nearly done." And he was. Eight of Mariah's toes were now artfully painted with a shocking red polish.

Mariah met Hermione's eyes as she sat across from them. "I was complaining to Ron that I hadn't seen my feet in so long that I'd nearly forgotten what they look like," she explained, "and he, uh, sort of volunteered to…"

Hermione held up a hand. "No explanations necessary," she said with a grin. "I'll have to get you to teach Harry that spell. Where's Ginny?"

"Already asleep, I think," Mariah answered, glancing at the second bedroom's closed door.

"There!" Ron said in a pleased voice while admiring his handiwork. "Did you need something?"

"Actually, I came to talk to Mariah. We haven't really had a chance for girl talk since I found out she was here."

If either of them heard the serious undertone in her voice, they didn't let on. "Good idea," Ron said after a telling look at Mariah. "I'll just head off and walk around a bit, shall I?"

Hermione remained silent until Ron Apparated out, gathering her thoughts into some semblance of order. She'd decided a casual start was the best approach.

"You seem very happy together."

Mariah smiled and blushed slightly. "I know we shouldn't be, with everything that's going on, but we are. I think we've finally put the past behind us. Who knows, we may even have a future together."

"Of course you have a future together, you're expecting his child."

"I meant the two of us, not the three of us. Oh Hermione, I think I'm in love with him. And not the love I thought I felt at first. This is so different. He makes me laugh; he exasperates the hell out of me. We fight, we make up. It's just so…"

"Wonderful," Hermione finished for her, knowing exactly how she felt. From what she'd seen, Ron felt the same. She only hoped it was strong enough to survive what was coming.

"I need to ask you something," Hermione began, biting her lip. "But I guess I need to tell you something first."

She took a deep breath and plunged on. "I found an old reference to Diviners in the library and what I read…let's just say it was disturbing. Do you know why there aren't many Diviners in Europe anymore?"

"I was told that we were expelled out of fear."

"That's partially true, but apparently there's more to it than that. According to what I read, there was a mass exodus. Diviners began to leave England in droves during and after a series of attacks on pregnant witches. There seemed to be some connection between the Diviners and the attacks, but it's ambiguous. However, the word Triuna was mentioned."

"Dear God," Mariah breathed heavily, clasping both hands around her stomach.

"I take it that word means something to you." Hermione paused. "Tell me," she prompted when Mariah remained silent.

"It's been years since my mother told me the story." She stopped to recall exactly what she'd been told. "A Triuna is said to be a Diviner of intense powers. She will have all three Diviner gifts to the utmost of their strength."

"All three?"

"She'll be a Persuader, able to control people absolutely, a Tactile with the ability to kill with a thought, and a Knower, able to see inside anyone's thoughts, their past and their future. She'll be a joining of all three of the Diviner abilities. And a force to be feared by any that cross her."

With this final bit of information, Hermione was able to put it all together. "So a Triuna Crudus would be this Diviner as an infant, then?"

"Yes. Where did you hear that term?"

Hermione looked puzzled; surely Ron would have told her what had happened by now. Then she remembered that this was Ron. "The woman that showed up at Hogwarts last month said it. She grabbed her wrist and said 'protect the Triuna Crudus.'"

"Her wrist," Mariah began and then seemed to have an internal debate.

"Yeah," Hermione took in a deep breath and looked Mariah straight in the eyes. "She had a mark on it very similar to yours."

"Oh my God," Mariah breathed, fingering the black mark. "She's Bonded to him," she muttered, and Hermione had the distinct impression that she was talking to herself. When she finally raised her eyes, Hermione nearly gasped at the dread in them.

"What is it, Mariah? What does that mean, 'bonded to him'?"

Mariah explained briefly about Diviner Bonds and Hermione sat rapt and unmoving until her friend finished.

"And you're bonded to Ron?"

"Yes." She watched Hermione closely, silently praying that she saw no hint of anger or concern over the Bond. She realized she shouldn't have been surprised that there wasn't any. Hermione only wanted information.

After a brief run down of what she had told Ron, Mariah relaxed. But there was another tension between them. A shared fear for Mariah and Ron's baby. Before they could comment further or, in fact, say anything at all, two sets of three knocks sounded on the door. Hermione used her wand to open the door, wondering vaguely what had brought Harry to the door instead of the fireplace.

She gasped aloud when Ron's assistant appeared there instead.

"Lissanne?" Hermione questioned.

Her confusion turned to astonishment when her best friend spoke.

"Kalena?" Mariah asked in a fearful whisper.

^*^*^*^*^

Ron whistled softly as he walked the familiar corridor towards Harry's office. After bumming around Hogsmeade for a while, he'd decided to head to Hogwarts and visit Harry while Mariah and Hermione chatted. When he heard the voices coming out of the office, Ron knew it had been fate that led him there.

"What do you want, Malfoy?" Harry was asking. Just the name made the hair stand up on the back of Ron's neck.

"I want to know where Ginny is," Malfoy said simply and without inflection. "I miss my wife."

"Your what?" Ron said in a low and cruel voice as he walked into the office. He'd have said more, but he was too busy fighting down the nausea over Malfoy using "Ginny" and "my wife" in the same sentence. Malfoy couldn't be the man Ginny had been seeing. He just couldn't. It was too horrible to be true.

"My wife, Weasley," he drawled, clearly not enjoying the malice on Ron's face, but not cowering from it either.

Harry watched the sparks flying off both men with rising apprehension. Surreptitiously, he removed his wand from the inside pocket of his robes and waited.

Ron took a bit of time, staring into Malfoy's gray eyes, trying to find deception in them. When he found no trace, he felt his blood reach full boil. "You mean your widow, Malfoy."

Ron launched himself at Malfoy. He hadn't gone two steps forward when Harry raised his wand. One Petrificus Totalus later and Ron was flat on his back.

"Finite Incantatum," Harry ended the spell once he had placed himself between Ron and Draco.

Ron sat up, rubbing his head. "Now I know what Neville meant by ouch."

"I owe you one, Potter. He had murder in his eyes."

"Then I'm collecting now, Malfoy. Tell me what you're really doing here."

"I told you, I'm here to see Ginny."

"I see," Ron snarled, lowering himself into a chair and fixing Malfoy with a death glare. "You're little helper failed to kidnap her, so you decided to take the direct approach?"

Harry had to admit he'd been thinking along the same lines. But he was watching Malfoy while Ron spoke; the shock in the other man's eyes was too genuine, too raw. Draco wasn't that good an actor.

"Someone tried to kidnap Ginny?" Draco whispered, his piercing gray eyes fixing on Harry.

"As if you didn't know," Ron said.

And Harry knew in that moment that Draco hadn't known.

^*^*^*^*^

Ginny walked into the living area of the apartment, the flurry of voices having awoken her. She glanced around at Hermione, Mariah and Lissanne. They all seemed to have been struck silent.

"Did I miss something?" she asked on a yawn. No one appeared to have heard her.

"You've never made anything easy for me, have you Mariah?" Lissanne said, confusing Ginny. As far as she knew, Ron's assistant didn't even know Mariah.

"Lissanne?" Hermione questioned, and Ginny saw her own confusion mirrored in her friend's face. Getting a welcoming look from Mariah, Ginny took the room's other chair and joined in staring at Lissanne.

"I don't know who Lissanne is," Mariah said, "but this woman is Kalena Sheldon, head of the Diviner Order. What are you doing here, Kalena?"

"Keeping an eye on you, Mariah."

"Wait a minute," Hermione held up a hand before the two women could continue. "Are you the same Kalena that owled me asking about Mariah?"

"Yes, Hermione. We tried everything in our power to find Mariah after she failed to return from the wedding. She's disappeared before, denied her gifts, lived as a Muggle and so forth, but this was different. Not long after I sent that owl, I found her. And I persuaded Mr. Weasley to hire me as an assistant. I wasn't sure why you were hiding from us, Mariah, but I wanted to give you space to figure it out on your own."

Kalena took a breath, surveyed the stunned faces around her and continued. "Why do you continue to defy me, Mariah…defy the Order?"

"What do you mean by defy, Liss - I mean Kalena?" Hermione asked defensively.

"When her gift manifested itself at eighteen, she fled from us, dyed her hair black and lived as a Muggle for quite some time before she came back to us."

"Why should it bother anyone that she dyed her hair? Witches do it all the time," Ginny asked, remembering the rather disastrous shade of brown her hair had been for a while.

"Through a quirk of genetics, girls born without powers are all black haired," Mariah explained softly.

"I know you weren't raised with the best role model, Mariah, but when are you going to realize that we're not all like your mother? That being a Diviner doesn't automatically mean that you become a manipulative user out only for personal gain?"

The question was obviously meant to be rhetorical. She shook her head when Mariah started to answer. Kalena walked over to the couch to kneel next to Mariah and grasped her wrist, baring the Bond mark to everyone's eyes. "And then there's this," she said exasperatedly. "I still don't know how you managed a Bonding ceremony. Or why you did it, considering how desperate you were to remove it in the first place."

Mariah's eyes widened. "What do you mean? I didn't perform any ceremony. The mark came back on its own the morning after Ron and I…"

Kalena gaped, visibly shaken. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I couldn't, Kalena. It wasn't long after that that I was abducted."

Hermione didn't think she'd ever truly seen anyone speechless before that moment. Kalena's mouth kept opening and closing without sound as Mariah told her all about the months she'd spent at the blonde man's castle. Once she'd finished, Kalena stood and began to pace, wringing her hands.

"You've got to get her somewhere safe, safer than this. Now," Kalena told Hermione. "I will be back as soon as I can." Without another word, she Disapparated.

"Hogwarts," Hermione and Ginny said at the same time.

^*^*^*^*^

Harry was beginning to feel a lot like Switzerland. After Draco had been told what had happened to Ginny the month before, a tense silence descended in the room. Ron and Draco were staring daggers at each other, and Harry continued to keep his wand at the ready in case one of them attacked again.

His right hand twitched when Ron suddenly stood, but he immediately recognized the faraway look in his friend's eyes. Mariah was telling him something, and by the widening of Ron's eyes, Harry knew it wasn't good news.

"Ron, what is it?" Harry tried to snap his friend's attention back to him.

"I don't know. It's not words, it's more a feeling. I've been getting glimmers of shock and surprise from her for a while now, but this one was pretty intense. I think it's okay, though, I'm pretty sure she'd let me know if she was in danger."

"Still believe in Divination, Weasley? I thought you'd have realized what a scam that is by now."

"Sod off, Malfoy," Ron said, and Harry placed a warning hand on his arm.

Further conversation stopped as the three men heard footsteps coming down the hallway. Before any of them could wonder, the office door flung open and Hermione and Ginny walked in. A second later, Ginny was wrapped in Draco's arms, kissing him as though her very life depended on it.

"I'm going to be sick," Ron muttered, wanting desperately to look away but unable to.

"Shut it, Ron," Hermione sniffed and wiped at her eyes. With a raised eyebrow, she dared Harry to comment again on her romantic side.

"What are you doing here?" Ginny asked Draco when they came up for air.

"I couldn't stay away any longer, Red," Draco said softly, placing a kiss on her forehead. "I figured it would be easier to come clean to this group first, then to the rest of your family."

"Come clean, Malfoy?" Harry interjected, "you make it sound like you're coming out of the closet."

"In your dreams, Potter," Draco said, meeting Harry's eyes over Ginny's head. The two shared an odd glance, and then Ron interrupted by clearing his throat.

"Where's Mariah?" he asked, glancing down the corridor.

"She's in our apartment, Ron. She's fine," Hermione told him. But Ron obviously wasn't having any of that, and left Harry's office like he'd been shot from a cannon. The others shared a look and followed.

"We definitely have a problem on our hands," Harry broke into the silence once they'd all reunited in Harry and Hermione's apartment, "because now that we know for certain that Draco isn't behind this, we're back to square one."

"You're faith in me is touching, Potter," Draco said with an icy drawl. Ginny tutted.

"Hey," Harry defended himself with mock seriousness, "she said it was a blonde man. Natural mistake."

"Oh yeah," Draco countered, relieved to be sparring with Potter. At least it was something recognizable in a world suddenly turned upside down. "We blondes are a dying breed."

"If you two are quite finished," Hermione interrupted, "we have something rather important to discuss here."

Harry noticed that she was stifling a yawn as she spoke. A quick glance around the room told him she wasn't the only one fighting fatigue. No wonder, he thought, it's past midnight.

"Why don't we put that discussion off until morning, love?" Harry walked to her side and wrapped an arm around her waist. "Let's let our brains process what's gone on here tonight and then meet in the morning when we're rested. I don't think anyone is in any immediate danger. And we're perfectly safe within these walls."

Everyone in the room seemed happy with that suggestion, but as Ron and Mariah prepared to return to Hogsmeade, Hermione protested. "Kalena said you should stay here. I think all four of you should."

"Nice as this room is, Hermione, I think that bed would get a little crowded with the six of us on it."

"Lovely mental image, Weasley. You always been this perverted?"

"Bugger off, Malfoy," Ron snarled, and Harry stepped between them once again.

"Hang on, you two. This is Hogwarts. There are rooms enough in this castle to house the entire wizarding world. I believe there are two on this corridor that are empty. Why don't you go settle yourselves in? I'll go to Dumbledore and tell him what's happening."

"Do you have to go now?" Hermione asked once the others had left to settle in for the night.

"Yeah," Harry said, wrapping his arms around her again and kissing her very softly on the lips. Perhaps out of fear, or perhaps out of need, Hermione deepened the kiss at once, trailing her hands up his chest to frame his face. He pulled back slightly and watched as the brown of her eyes seemed to melt under his gaze. "Why don't you settle in to bed and we'll pick this up when I get back?"

"Hurry," Hermione said simply, then kissed him deeply once again to make sure he did.

"You know it," he smiled and walked out of the door before she could try to change his mind again.

He was only a few feet from Dumbledore's office when he felt the hair rise at the back of his neck. His hand had just touched his wand when he heard a feminine voice whisper "Stupefy."

^*^*^*^*^

"So, big brother managed to knock up a witch. I'm impressed," Draco smirked as he pulled off his robes and climbed next to Ginny on the rather musty smelling bed. "All things being equal, my position has improved a bit. At least we got married first."

Ginny said nothing and Draco sighed. "You must really be worried if I can't even get a smile out of you."

"I am, Draco. I still don't understand everything that's going on, but I know Hermione. She was really scared for Mariah…"

"And she doesn't scare easily," Draco finished.

Silence reigned as they curled in to each other. Draco wrapped his arms protectively around Ginny; she snuggled deeper into his embrace. The euphoria of being reunited was ebbing away, leaving bitterness in its wake. Happy as he was to have his wife back, he couldn't quite dismiss their separation. He obviously hadn't moved past the emotional roller coaster the last month had been. And when she spoke, some of those emotions spilled out.

"I missed you," she sighed, feeling complete for the first time in a month.

"Then why did you stay away?" Draco hated the little boy that spoke through him, but couldn't hold the words at bay.

"I told you, I couldn't come home without telling Ron and Harry the truth." Her husband's silence spoke volumes. Ginny felt her anger rising. "Don't you give me the silent treatment, Draco Malfoy. You're the one that wanted to keep this secret. You're the one that refused to come to the Burrow with me because you were afraid of my family's reaction. Merlin's beard, you tried to leave me several times rather than face them. So excuse me for honoring your wishes."

"I'll grant you that, Gin. But it would have been nice if you'd asked me. Given a choice between facing your family and facing a month without you, I'd have Apparated to the Burrow in a heartbeat." Draco paused as anguish overcame his anger. "It's been a month, Ginny. Thirty days you stayed away from me. Do you have any idea how hard it was? When you came to see me that first time and then left fifteen minutes later, I stared at the place you'd been for a long time before I could move. I was positive that you'd left me for good."

Ginny felt the full weight of her cowardice at not standing up to Ron, and it was threatening to overwhelm her. "I'm sorry, Draco. You're right. Once I'd figured it out, once I had proof you weren't behind this whole mess, I should have told Ron everything. I don't know why I didn't."

Draco wasn't sure what he'd been after by lashing out at her, but when he saw the tears filling her brown eyes, he let the past drift away. "It's okay, Red. You acted for my benefit, and I'm being an ungrateful git. I'm still not entirely sure why you put up with me."

"Because you're my ungrateful git," she laughed, hugging him tightly.

"Careful, you're going to swell my head with all this praise."

They laughed together, tentatively at first, then dissolving into fits of giggles. By unspoken agreement, they locked the night's events into a closet and focused on their reunion.

Good thing these walls are made of stone, Draco thought as he pulled Ginny into a fierce kiss.

^*^*^*^

For Ron and Mariah, the night held no laughter at all. And the silence between them had nothing to do with mental communication. Neither knew exactly what to say. Ron sat with Mariah as she drifted off to sleep. The weight of their growing child made any position uncomfortable for her, so he'd taken to massaging her shoulders until she drifted off.

When her breathing became regular, he gently eased away from her and reached for the quilt at the foot of the bed. His eyes fixed on her bright red toes. Had it really been just a few hours ago that he'd done that? That he'd felt that carefree? Hard to believe.

The window overlooking the grounds was closed, but the curtains were pulled aside. The lake glistened peacefully in the cold night air. The squid made a few ripples in the water and Ron stared at them, transfixed, caught up in his thoughts.

He really wanted to be angry with Ginny. He really wanted to hate Malfoy. But he couldn't. Ron knew raw emotion well enough to recognize it even in his enemy's eyes. How could he hate someone who treated his sister like she was the center of his world? Watching his sister deep kissing Malfoy had been nauseating. But when Malfoy had kissed Ginny on the forehead, it had been…well, he hadn't felt like throwing up.

When it came down to the wire, he just wanted his sister to be happy; and she was happy with Malfoy. Ron knew he'd probably never trust him, but for Ginny, he'd give him a chance.

Mariah whimpered in her sleep. Ron left the window to rejoin her on the bed. He lay on his side and curled his body into the curve of hers, one arm draping over her abdomen to rest on the baby. It's getting so big, he thought in soft wonder at the baby they would be meeting in a matter of weeks. As if in recognition, the baby kicked out towards his hand and Ron soothed the spot.

Mariah hadn't had a chance to tell him everything that had happened, but he'd assumed it wasn't good. All he knew was that his assistant, Lissanne, was really the head of the Diviner Order, that she was gone to God knows where, and that Mariah was even more worried about the baby than she'd been before.

"Ron?" she asked sleepily.

"Right here," he whispered, pressing his lips to the back of her head. "Go back to sleep."

"I can't. There's so much I have to tell you."

"Not tonight, you don't. Ginny filled me in on Lissanne leaving and I owled Rosmerta. She closed up Weasley's for me. Fred's Apparating in tomorrow morning to run the shop for the Hogsmeade weekend. Everything's taken care of."

"Not everything," Mariah sighed and shifted her awkward body until she faced him. "The baby -"

"Will be born in a few weeks," Ron cut her off. "And until then, there's nothing else we need to think about." Acting on impulse, he closed the inches between them and pressed his lips to hers. The feel of her swam across his senses and infused every part of him with churning desire. A desire he couldn't do anything about for at least another month or so.

Sorry, Mariah thought timidly.

Ron pulled back and found her eyes in the moon lightened room. Nothing to be sorry for, Mariah. Then he kissed her again and she returned it with a growing desire of her own. Ron groaned aloud when he felt her hands reach under his shirt to the flat plane of his stomach.

Mariah? He questioned.

Shhh, she answered and continued to examine his stomach. When her hand dipped lower, Ron began to wonder if this was what heaven was like.

^*^*^*^

Hermione tossed and turned, trying to get comfortable. It wasn't happening. What had begun as a small bulge that made wearing pants uncomfortable had grown to near elephantine proportions making "comfort" a feeling she no longer recognized. And, based on the way Mariah looked these days, it was only going to get worse.

Not that she really minded. Sure, she missed being able to sleep on her stomach, but the little Harry or Hermione growing and kicking within her made every discomfort worth it. She smoothed a hand over the bulge, and then glanced at the clock. What are they talking about? She thought vaguely.

Just as she was about to don her robes to join Harry at Dumbledore's office, the apartment door swung open. She lay quietly, watching him disrobe and move towards the bed. He paused before joining her, which was odd, but then he pulled back the covers and slid underneath them.

Hermione cuddled up to him and felt him stiffen. "What's wrong?" she asked. "Did you talk to Dumbledore?"

"Let's talk about it in the morning, okay, sweetheart? I'm really tired." Without another word, Harry turned on his side.

The last time Harry had fallen asleep like this, without a kiss, with his back to her, they'd been fighting. But this time, they'd parted with a promise of more to come. Could what Dumbledore had said been that upsetting? Was he once again worrying over the future of their child?

Hermione realized that she hadn't had a chance to explain about the Triuna Crudus being a Diviner's child before the night had spiraled out of control. Suddenly, she felt a little better. She'd explain when they awoke and then they could put all fears for their baby aside and concentrate on keeping Ron and Mariah's from harm. Yawning deeply, Hermione turned to Harry, placed a hand on his waist and drifted off to sleep.

^*^*^*^*

He awoke suddenly, as if an electric shock had been passed through his body. He could see clearly, a strange occurrence as he never slept with his glasses on. Then his groggy brain caught up with his eyes and he drew in a sharp breath. He wasn't in his bedroom.

Eyes darting around, he took in as much information as he could. The room was barren, no windows, no furniture besides the chair he was sitting on. He raised his hand to rub the sleep from his eyes. Or at least, he tried to. His hands were bound to the arms of the chair.

Harry felt the first ribbons of panic begin to snake through him. Despite Hermione's claims that he was paranoid, he had prepared for this type of situation. But if his hands were restrained, that plan was about as effective as his first feeble Patronus.

Mind racing in a thousand directions at once, Harry stiffened when the door in front of him opened and a man walked through. He was a tall man, blonde, with an air of…something around him. Determination? Insanity? Anger? Probably all three, Harry decided. Keeping his face as blank as he could, Harry met his eyes and waited.

"Harry Potter, I presume?" the man said conversationally, as if they were meeting at a cocktail party.

"Yes." He wasn't going to give this man more than one word answers.

"Sorry for the discomfort of the chair, but I've heard you're quite a capable wizard and I couldn't risk your escape. I mean you no harm whatsoever, be assured of that, but I must keep you here for the plan to proceed. It won't be for long, just until the baby is born."

The anger surging through him negated everything else. "You stay away from my child," Harry ground out through gritted teeth.

"Your child?" The man actually laughed. "I have no interest in your child whatsoever. Not everything revolves around you, you know."

^*^*^*^

Hermione awoke to the sounds of snoring beside her. Snoring? she thought, Harry doesn't snore.

Uneasiness spread over her -- an inner sense that something was horribly wrong. She watched him for a few moments, ensuring that he was truly asleep. Once she was certain, she reached a tentative hand over to his and linked their fingers. The wedding bands touched but there was no warmth, and no lightning bolt pattern appeared on them.

This man wasn't Harry.

Rising carefully so as not to wake him, Hermione slipped into her dressing gown and crept silently from the room. She went first to Ron and Mariah and then to Draco and Ginny. She apprised them of her findings and the five of them crept back into the apartment. With the others standing further back, Hermione retrieved her wand from the writing desk and approached the sleeping man.

"Harry?" she prodded his shoulder. He sat up rapidly, blinking sleep from green eyes that held none of Harry's warmth. Those same green eyes widened when he noticed the wand pointed directly at him.

"Hermione?" he asked, clearly puzzled.

"Who are you?" she asked, wand steady and voice quivering, "and what have you done with my husband?"