Thin Lines

Betrayal, Heartbreak and One Spoken Word

London, 3 years earlier

Draco sat in the silence of Harry and Ginny's study; his eyes stared in the direction of the open window, but did not focus on anything beyond it. He heard Ginny's small footsteps approach and stop at his door with a sigh as she gazed at his unmoving form. He had left the door open intentionally so they wouldn't think he was hiding behind it. A selfish part of him wanted to blame them, to make them see what they'd done to him. Damn them and this wretched war! He sat within the prison of his thoughts as they wandered to Dominic. Dominic, who laid asleep down the hall, remained blissfully unaware that when he woke his mother would be missing. Sleep brought with it ignorance Draco in silence. Draco did not turn to face them, to snap at them to take their pity elsewhere. The tears that ran down his cheeks betrayed his stone façade and he sat bitterly ashamed of them. His silence was shattered by Harry's hushed whisper, as though and Draco envied him. Had it really been only hours since he woke up in bed, his arm draped over Dominic and Hermione as they slept, so happy to be alive? That seemed so far away from him now.

Harry's heavier footsteps lumbered down the hall behind him and stopped next to Ginny, who stood watching he believed that Draco, sitting only a few feet away, couldn't hear them.

"How's he doing?" Bloody Potter, he always did ask dumb questions.

"He's been sitting in that chair staring out the window all night." Ginny's whisper was thick with tears, for she was the closest to Hermione save Draco.

"At least he's awake. Maybe we..." Harry's voice trailed away as they walked downstairs, leaving Draco to his memories. It was the cruelest thing they could have done. Just as the silence and the memories began to suffocate him, his son's terrified cries carried down the hall from the spare bedroom.

"Ow!" Dominic sobbed over and over again as Draco charged into the room and scooped the frightened little boy up into his arms.

"Shh, Dom. I'm here. Daddy's here." He rocked him gently and tried to calm him. Ginny and Harry thundered up the stairs and burst through the open door. Draco ignored them and glanced down at his son's tear-stained face.

"What's happened? Did you have a bad dream?" Dominic nodded, his entire body shivering against Draco as he held him. He lifted his small hand to his chest, placing it over his heart and said just one word, "Ow."

Draco shut his eyes, swallowing the tears that threatened to fall again. He knew. He felt a pain in his heart and though he didn't understand, he knew. A small sob reminded Draco of Ginny and Harry as she too realized what was happening.

"It will be okay, Dominic, don't worry. Go back to sleep and it won't hurt anymore." He laid the boy back on the bed, tucking the covers tightly around him. As Draco crossed the room to join Ginny and Harry in the hallway, a small voice stopped him.

"Mommy sing me twinkle star?" Draco turned back, a small smile of regret put on for his son's sake.

"Not tonight, love. Mommy..." His voice caught and he swallowed hard, taking a deep breath. "Mommy can't sing tonight." Dominic nodded, his lips in a pout as he closed his eyes. Draco shut the door softly behind him and turned to face the waiting Harry and Ginny.

"When are you going to tell him?" Draco shook his head and shrugged.

"Tomorrow, I guess. He'll know something's wrong by then," he said, but in his mind he thought never. When he told him, when he said those finalizing words to him, Draco knew it would be real, that she would really be gone. He spoke again, keeping his voice even and flat.

"If you don't mind, we would like to stay here until all the arrangements are taken care of. After the...funeral, we'll return to America. I have to talk to the senior members about relocating. If Lucius found us, the others will follow. Staying here is too dangerous." Ginny and Harry nodded, obviously unsure of what to say. Draco's mind whirled with the thought of moving and he welcomed the distraction. As long as he stayed busy, he wouldn't think. He wouldn't think about how hollow he felt, how alone he felt, how much he missed her. As long as he stayed busy, he couldn't fall apart.

~~~

"She wasn't there?! What the hell does that mean, Snape?" Draco growled incredulously.

"Have the Americans corrupted your ability to understand English? It means she wasn't there when I got there. If you hadn't taken off after Lucius like he wanted you to, you would have seen the two Death Eaters that carried your precious wife away." Snape's face remained expressionless as he watched Draco from across the room.

"You bastard, you knew! My little boy has spent three years without a mother and you knew this whole time that she was alive? You're no better than my father was," Draco seethed, unconsciously inching across the room.

"Sticks and stones, Malfoy. If I had told you she was alive, the three of you would have given in to stupidity and gone looking for her."

"Of course we would have! We're her family. She was my life and you took her away!"

Draco felt like he had chili peppers coursing through his veins. Though every cell in his body was screaming for him to act, he remained in the same spot.

"You are mistaken in that, Draco. Your father took her away from you. I merely prevented you from hurting the Order with a frivolous and hopeless conquest."

Before Draco could respond, Ron came in, followed closely by Harry and Remus Lupin.

"Bloody hell, Malfoy! What's going on here?" Ron glanced between the two men, a looked of confused annoyance on his face.

"You explain it to them, Snape. Tell them about how you let Hermione be tortured for years and never said a word to the people that love her." Harry and Ron shifted their gaze from Draco to Snape.

"Severus, what is the meaning of this?" Lupin inquired, staring expectantly across the room at Snape.

"I can't listen to this again. I'll be upstairs," Draco said quickly, brushing past the three men, now all staring blankly at Snape.

~~~

Washington D.C., Order of the Eagle Headquarters, 3 years earlier

Draco stood in the Minister of Magic's office on the thirteenth floor of the J.W. Marriott hotel, gazing through the window dowan at the busy city below. He turned slowly at the sound of voices and the door opening behind him. The American minister came striding in, followed closely by his eager assistant.

"Ah, Mr. Malfoy. Good to see you again," he greeted, shaking hands with the exhausted man in front of him.

"You as well, Minister Chase," Draco replied automatically, releasing the man's hand.

"Please, sit. I'm very sorry about your wife. She will be dearly missed by our organization." Chase smiled sympathetically at him and Draco returned the smile meekly, saying nothing. Chase nodded at him and continued on.

"I have called you here today to discuss your future with the Eagles. I know you must remain in America as a safety precaution. Understandably, all of the branches of Death Eaters across the world are up in arms about your father's capture. He was much too close to Voldemort not to be missed." Chase paused, sensing his digression was making Draco uneasy. Shaking his head absentmindedly, he continued, "We want you to remain with us as a liaison to Britain, but we want to amend your duties. You do still plan on working with us while you're here, correct?"

Draco stared at him for a moment before he realized Chase had asked him a question. "Of course, sir. What does the Ministry want me to do?" Chase handed him a worn blue folder and Draco scanned its contents. He recognized it as a raid schedule.

"We want to promote you from an Auror to an Official. It requires a lot less use of magic; which for the time being will be the safest thing for you. You won't be participating in raids any more. It's too risky to put you around that many Death Eaters. You'll go in after the areas have been cleared and gather evidence and information. You'll compile your findings and send in a report. Once it's been reviewed, we'll send it back to you to add any other information you wish to include and you'll pass it along to the Order of the Phoenix."

Draco didn't say anything at first, trying with everything in him to hold back his displeasure with their decision. Not participating in raids meant no more magic. Chase was right of course about it being safer; his using magic meant he could be tracked and he couldn't risk being found again. But without Hermione and magic, who was he? Draco simply nodded mechanically at Minister Chase and listened in exhausted defeat to his first assignment.

~~~

Draco stared in silent exasperation through the charmed portrait into Hermione's quarters. Ginny was checking on her and unsuccessfully trying to get her to speak. He felt for Ginny, despite what the others might have thought; he knew better than any of them what helpless defeat felt like.

"Merlin, this is torture," he mumbled, as Harry came up beside him.

"I know. Bloody Snape, though! I can't believe he knew. All this time he knew and never said a word," Harry replied angrily, staring in the same manner as Draco into the room.

"What'd you do with Weasley?" Draco asked, dryly, folding his arms across his chest, never shifting his gaze.

"Lupin put him in a bind when he lunged at Snape and then he pushed us both out of the room and magically locked the door. Ron's recovering down the hall in another bedroom." Draco nodded and continued staring in silence.

Several minutes later, both men were jolted from their concentration, watching in astonishment as Hermione leapt at Ginny suddenly. Both men gasped and darted into the room. Draco pulled the dumbstruck Ginny away from the violently flailing Hermione. Harry cast a mild stunning spell at her, catching her before she hit the floor. Recognition stabbed through Draco's racing heart as she managed one last passionate exclamation before falling limp, "Malfoy!"