And Then There Were None

Harry kept a tight grip on his wand as the figure emerged from the bushes. It was pawing away the plants, clearly struggling to move forward. Finally, after a few moments, it fell forward onto the ground in front of Harry and Blaise.

"Neville?" asked Harry.

Neville got up and brushed himself off, pulling a few leaves from his hair. Blaise eyed him curiously.

"Where's Draco?" said Blaise.

"Well, um..." Neville cleared this throat a few times. "I think I lost him."

"What?" Blaise exclaimed.

"Well, I was busy you see. There was this plant, and I was examining it. It was very intriguing, with beautiful leaves and..."

Blaise shook his head and looked at Harry, obviously annoyed.

"I saw him off to the distance looking around for the elf and yelling for me to hurry up, and I ran to follow him but I ..."

"You what?" pressed Blaise.

"I fell."

Neville looked ashamed and turned his gaze to his feet which were covered in dark, brown mud. It was no surprise to either Harry or Blaise that Neville had tripped on something and lost Draco.

"I stumbled over a different plant and got tangled. It wasn't poisonous, thank goodness, but I did get more than a few scrapes. When I got up, I couldn't see him anymore. So I went searching for him and found you two instead."

"Well, let's go find him," said Harry going in the direction Neville had come from.

"Should we tell the others?" said Neville.

"How long has it been?" questioned Harry.

"I lost him about a half hour ago," Neville said.

"He'll turn up on his own accord," assured Blaise.

"Yes, but if we don't turn up to the spot we said we'd meet at, he might go looking for us."

Harry went through the bushes with Blaise and Neville in tow. "We should get to our meeting place then."

_ _ _

The sitting room was where Hermione, Ron, Pansy and Theodore were found. Hermione and Ron were, of course, carrying on a conversation near the window; the discussion consisted of Hermione arguing, Ron protesting, and Hermione ultimately being right. Pansy and Theodore, however, sat silently next to each other on the couch. They were former Slytherins and did have classes together at Hogwarts, yet they didn't have much to talk about.

Pansy tapped her foot on the ground repeatedly and looked about the sitting room, while Theodore looked tense. After the other four had been gone for ten minutes, Pansy decided she might as well get a start on her article. An ex-Death Eater who joined the "AKA" would make an interesting story.

"Eleanor Montague."

Theodore suddenly turned towards her, alarmed. "What about her?"

"You killed her."

"Yes, I already told you that," he said uneasily. "I was a Death Eater. It was my job."

"But what's the real story behind that, Theodore?" asked Pansy, dripping with journalistic charisma.

When Nott didn't continue, she pressed on.

"Why her? Why Montague's relative?"

"Sister," he announced abruptly.

Pansy look confused. "What?"

"Eleanor was Montague's sister. She was in Ravenclaw." Nott looked as if he were remembering something in the distant past.

"In our year?" asked Pansy.

"No. She was two years older."

"You knew her well?"

Theodore blinked back and the glaze from his eyes was removed. He looked Pansy straight in the eye and said, "I don't think that's any of your business."

A lazy smile graced Pansy's features. "You did, didn't you?"

Theodore looked as if he were debating whether or not to answer.

"You know what? I think I do remember her. She was brunette and...tall?" Pansy didn't know if Theodore caught her bluff. The Slytherin Montague that she knew had dark brown hair and was tall. He never mentioned a sister and didn't speak much to Pansy. She was just creating an image for Theodore to remember and reminisce, as he seemed intent on doing.

"Yes," he answered languidly.

"She took a liking to you?" Pansy continued. "Or you fancied her?"

"Yes," Theodore replied. "How did you know?"

"Woman's intuition." She shrugged it off in an overly nonchalant way. "Tell me about her."

"The Eleanor I knew had long brown hair and wore glasses. Very sharp and intelligent. She was interested in politics. That's why she chose the career she did."

"What did she do after Hogwarts?"

"Well, she worked for the Ministry in the Muggle Relations Office. She was an influential Muggle activist and...You-Know-Who wanted her dead. My dad volunteered me for my initiation and I did it."

Pansy nodded her head, mentally taking in everything. Considering what had just been said, Nott squirmed uneasily and excused himself to the restroom.

- - -

It took a while for Harry, Blaise, and Neville to navigate through all the brush and to their meeting spot, where they first began the search. The three men were back at the clearing, and they waited there.

Ten minutes went by without a word from any of them.

Blaise broke the silence with an exasperated sigh. "He's late, don't you think? What if he went back to the estate?"

With an apprehensive frown, Harry answered, "I don't think it would be appropriate to just leave without any notice. He's probably lost on the grounds."

"Maybe," Neville spoke up, "maybe, we should look for him."

"That would be the best idea Neville," Harry agreed.

"Fine," Blaise replied. "But I'm going to go back to the house."

"No," Harry said quickly. "I don't want the others to know."

"And why not?" scoffed Blaise.

"Well, I just don't want to worry them any more than necessary. To think, there have already been two accidents. I don't want them to think that there's another one on the way. They don't need to be bothered."

Reluctantly, Blaise agreed. It was the best for them all. No more nerves needed to be frayed, under the circumstances.

The search began and Neville directed them towards the place where he claimed he had fallen.

_ _ _

Twenty minutes later and they still hadn't located Draco.

"Longbottom," said Blaise sharply. "Are you sure you're taking us in the right direction?"

Neville nodded vigorously. "I remember seeing the asphodel." He pointed to his left. "And I tripped over here, near the wormwood."

The bitter smelling plant had brightly colored flowers in bloom. It was obvious why Neville got caught up examining it. As darkly beautiful the plant was, its intrigue was hindered by the slope on which it sat.

Walking around, Neville demonstrated his previous actions.

"See, I was here. And Draco called me from over there." The trees Neville pointed out were thick and shadowed from their position at the top of the hill. "He walked away from me and I ran to catch up with him, but the wormwood was in the way, and that's all."

"Well, let's go then," said Harry, after examining the area. He led the way down.

The three continued on their way into the thickening trees.

"Which way did you go to look for him Neville?" asked Blaise.

"To the right."

"Then we'll just have to go left where--" Blaise stopped in his tracks. "What's that over there?"

"What is it?" Harry questioned, looking to where Blaise indicated.

"I don't know. Something really bright red."

When Blaise started to make his way toward it, Neville interceded. "It's probably just some plant. There are a lot of magical herbs around here. We really should get to looking for Draco. It's nearly lunchtime."

"Just wait a moment. Okay, Longbottom?"

And before Neville could say anything, Blaise briskly went to the object that caught his eye.

Harry and Neville followed Blaise closely.

As they got nearer, there was an overpowering stench. Blaise pushed past a hanging branch and a great sight lay before them, shadowed by the tall canopy.

The dirt beneath their feet was soaked with blood. It looked almost as if it were stained with it. And growing from the unnaturally red floor was the Devil's Snare. It was so tangled and twisted that they almost missed the body.