When In France

1998, Malfoy Manor

Draco sat in the middle of the cold, dark room, bound tightly to a chair. The left side of his face was badly bruised and swollen, and cuts were scattered over his face and arms.

"So, Draco," Voldemort spat out. "Are you going to tell me where your little boyfriend is hiding?"

Draco turned his face away and stared at the ground as Voldemort lifted up his wand and aimed it at him. Draco screwed his eyes shut as the Crucio curse hit him.

"Well? Are you going to tell me now?" Voldemort hissed.

Draco lifted up his head and stared at him.

"I would rather die," he whispered hoarsely.

Voldemort narrowed his eyes and signalled to the Death Eater standing by the door.

"I'll be back later. I'll get that information out of you," he shot at Draco, before whirling out the door with the Death Eater at his heels.

Draco sat in the empty, silent room for a few minutes before he heard a loud pop. A house-elf appeared in front of him.

"Puck?" Draco said in disbelief, staring at the elf.

"Master Draco!" it squeaked.

"What are you doing here?"

"Rescuing you, Master Draco," Puck answered as he snapped his fingers, and the ropes binding Draco's wrists and ankles to the chair fell away.

"I owe you, Puck," Draco said as he stood up.

Puck seized Draco around the wrist and they disappeared.

Harry and Ginny walked down the stairs, Ginny turning right as they reached the bottom.

"Gin, it's this way," Harry said, pointing left.

"Oh, oops. This place is confusing," she laughed.

They walked to the courtyard, blinded temporarily by the bright sunlight.

"Morning, guys," Harry said as they sat down across Oliver and Hermione.

"Hey! Sleep well?" Hermione asked.

"Yeah, actually. I had a great sleep," Harry said, pouring himself a cup of coffee.

Mackenzie, Sebastian and Isabel entered the courtyard followed by Damian, who was carrying a tray full of pastries.

"Good morning," Mackenzie greeted everyone as she sat down.

"Morning," Ginny answered. "Where's everyone else?"

Sebastian laughed. "Nate and Seth will be up just in time for lunch."

"Maggie and Ryan are visiting Paris today. They left earlier this morning," Damian said. "So, you guys are heading off to Saint-Gilles this morning?"

"Yup. What's the best way to get there?" Hermione asked, reaching for a croissant.

"It's a twenty minute walk, but you can take brooms if you want, or Apparate," Damian answered.

"We can walk. It's a beautiful morning," Hermione said, gazing out at the vineyard.

"Don't wear those stilettos," Oliver warned, pointing at Ginny.

"I wasn't planning to," Ginny replied, rolling her eyes.

They arrived in Saint-Gilles an hour later. The little magical town looked like something right out of a postcard, featuring narrow cobbled streets and buildings with tiny balconies and window boxes frothing with colourful flowers. There were boutiques, a pub, cafés, a small grocery shop as well as some wizarding offices.

They wandered around the shops for a while, chatting with the friendly locals, then had lunch at a small outdoor café.

"Hey, we better head back soon, Harry, we told Seth we'd have a game after lunch," Oliver said, finishing up his coffee.

"Okay. What are you guys going to do?" Harry asked Hermione and Ginny.

"Oh, we're meeting Isabel back at the château. She's taking us to this Muggle town. Apparently there's a really nice spa there," Ginny said.

They headed back to the château, and Oliver and Harry walked down to the Quidditch pitch.

Nate and Seth were already there, and they had pulled out an assortment of broomsticks as well as the set of balls from the little shed.

"Hey guys! Ready for some fun?" Seth called out.

"Bring it on!" Oliver replied.

Oliver and Harry tested out some broomsticks as Nate and Seth argued about the teams. After Oliver and Harry each selected a broom, they spotted Mackenzie and Sebastian strolling down, hand-in-hand.

"Hey," Sebastian greeted everyone, pulling out a small, silver contraption from his pocket, tapping it with his wand and muttering something. Harry and Oliver watched in awe as it enlarged into a full-size broomstick.

"That's not a Retractable Eclipse 9000?" Oliver asked, shocked.

Sebastian grinned. "Yeah. Want to have a go?"

"Hell yes!"

Mackenzie watched them with amusement, and then turned to Nate and Seth.

"Teams sorted out, yet?"

Seth glanced sideways at Nate. "We're getting there."

They eventually figured out the teams- Harry, Seth and Mackenzie on one team, and Nate, Oliver and Sebastian on the other. They released almost all the balls, after deciding to use only one Bludger, and set off.

They played best three out of five games, and eventually Harry's team won after he caught the snitch in record time during the last game. After packing away the equipment, they trudged back up to the house, where they met Damian and the other girls in the courtyard, drinking lemonade.

"Ahh, perfect," Oliver said, grabbing a glass and guzzling it down.

"How was the game?" Damian asked.

"Excellent! We kicked their asses, didn't we, boys?" Mackenzie said, slapping Harry and Seth high-fives. "Harry here is an amazing Seeker."

"Hey, I'm not the only one. You should see Sebastian and Nate with the Quaffle, it's incredible," Harry replied, pouring himself a glass of lemonade. "I have to say, it's nice to play a game that's not in the rain, clouds or fog."

That night they enjoyed another delicious dinner, and afterwards, lounged around the courtyard, playing cards. Damian had disappeared into the house after clearing the dishes.

Isabel reached for the bottle of wine and poured out the last few drops.

"Damn. Do you know where Damian keeps the wine?" she asked.

"I'll go find him and ask," Ginny said, leaving the table and entering the house.

After searching the first and second floors with no sign of Damian, Ginny decided to head up to the third floor.

She saw the first door was slightly open, so after knocking with no response, she pushed it open and entered.

"Hellooo?" she called out, looking around.

The room seemed to be Damian's private study. Most of the space was taken up by a huge mahogany desk in the middle of the room, and the walls were lined with bookshelves.

Ginny circled the desk, glancing at the books on the shelves and found herself on the other side of the desk.

She spotted a silver framed photo on the desk and leaned in closer to look at it, her mouth falling open in shock.