The Road To Nowhere

Disclaimer: I own my stuff and Rowling hers. Blah, blah, blah.

Author´s Note: As Ralph Waldo Emerson put it, "Tis the good reader that makes a good book." So please, if you like what you´re reading, make it a good book and review. It´s very much appreciated.

Chapter Fifteen

Just a Dot

"At times life´s unfair

And you know it´s plain to see

Hey, God I know

I´m just a dot in this world

Have you forgot about me?"

Creed: `Don´t Stop Dancing.´

Anni, upon her return, found Harry at her kitchen table, examining the fibula in earnest.

"You were supposed to wait for me," she scolded, pulling a chair up nest to him to watch on as he checked the authenticity of the artifact with the picture in the book.

"Yes," Harry answered, not looking up from his work, "And I did wait for nearly an hour. Where have you been?"

"I´ll have you know that I´ve just lost my internship, thank you very much," she said hotly, "Apparently I broke that hideous elephant thing I ran into. I obviously didn´t realize what a thick head I´ve got." She smiled as Harry´s head shot up at her announcement.

"Anni, I´m sorry," he put the fibula back inside of the bag and secured the clasp of it to insure that it wouldn´t jostle about, or in any other way come to harm. "I didn´t mean to cause you this much trouble. I never thought that I would get you taken out of your internship."

She shrugged and waved him off, "It´s a pretty kick-ass museum, but there are plenty of others in town. I´ll find something, don´t you worry. Besides," she added brightly, "I´d do anything at all to help Ginny out, busting up the joint wasn´t what we originally had in mind, but I had to improvise a little."

"We owe you a lot," Harry added appreciatively, standing and shouldering the bag.

"You don´t owe me a thing, Harry. We´re family and all that sentimental shit, I would do anything for you or the Weasleys, you know that."

"Yeah, I know," Harry agreed. She grabbed him roughly into a hug and kissed him on the forehead, pretending to fawn over him like an overprotective parent. Harry received the attentions with patience and then finally said his goodbyes. He didn´t expect to see her again until Christmas and the wedding.

"Thanks again, for everything," Harry turned to say before Apparating.

"Anything for you, sweetheart," Anni chirped in a ridiculous tone and waved--never count on her to be serious on any occasion.

***

Hermione sat looking through some indeterminably old books on the Founders, possibly first editions, and intermittently stealing glances at the enigmatic blond just a few feet away behind a mahogany desk. Shutting the text in her hands with a decisive clap, calling Draco´s attention from the list in Ginny´s handwriting that he´d been studying meticulously (however little information there was to glean from it) it was time now to get some things straight.

"Is there something you wanted?" Draco asked in a disinterested monotone, looking up from the page in his hand only momentarily.

"I want to know a lot of things, but for now I´ll settle with the answer as to how you came to be the one person that was last to see Ginny before she was taken," Hermione asked in as straightforward a voice as she could manage under the wilting stare Draco leveled on her. She hadn´t expected him to answer, yet she had nothing else to go on. Ginny had never mentioned that she´d seen him in all of her time spent there in Paris. It seemed more than curious to her. She was fighting with suspicion in exchange for the benefit of the doubt. He `d proven that he was no Voldemort supporter long ago, as far back as Azkaban. She´d plainly witnessed his defiance of his father that broke only when the elder Malfoy´s anger had been leveled on an innocent student in the same cell with him, a slight, raven-haired Slytherin. She had been distraught herself at the time, but no too messed up to catch onto Draco´s waning sympathies to his father´s cause. Other factors might have had an influence as well, but she wasn´t nosy enough to pry. She only wanted the facts that surrounded his connection to Ginny.

She was surprised when he heaved a sigh at the impertinent but well intended question and began to relate the events of the past month, "I´m not sure you should be hearing this from me, but it´s just as well that you know everything. Were you around the last time she tried to kill herself?" he began tentatively.

Hermione was shocked to be hearing of her close friend´s unfortunate history related so casually by a long time enemy of herself, her friends and her family (the Weasleys nearly counted as such as she´d been taken under their wing long ago). She found her voice and swallowed her surprise expertly. "Yes, I have a feeling that it was to do with all of this, but I didn´t know it at first. How do you know about that?"

"She´s tried it again, just a week and a half before she was taken. An overdose. Sleeping pills and alcohol. I found her unconscious on the floor of her flat," Draco didn´t meet Hermione´s eyes and missed the openly stunned and disbelieving look she gave him. "We were at the opera with my sister. Ginny saw something that frightened her and tried to kill herself that night. When I heard what she´d seen from Lucy, I went back there immediately. I thought Tom would have gotten to her by then, but the bastard was just messing with her. She did it, I imagine, out of desperation. She didn´t want to be used by him and he´s not finished with her yet." He paused a moment and shrugged, "I don´t know, it would scare the hell out of me, anyway."

Hermione nodded her agreement, "I only want to know one more thing and I´ll leave it alone, I promise," she continued. Draco shook his head and then resigned the fight, she had the right to know all right, this was her friend they were discussing, after all.

"What is it? I can´t promise I´ll answer it, but you can ask. There´s no stopping you, apparently," he added with just enough sarcasm to keep the atmosphere neutral. It was a little uncomfortable to be having this chat with Granger. If seething impatience could lighten the mood any, it was certainly welcome.

"Do you love her, you think?" she asked picking up her book again, expecting no answer and resigned to leave it at that.

He gave the question some thought and nearly startled Hermione when he finally did reply, "You know, I don´t think I´d bother with all of this for someone I don´t give a damn about."

Hermione thought it bold enough that he´d even given an answer and, having little experience in reading Draco Malfoy´s underlying expressions, she took him to be sincere.

***

Lucy had been working for months on a revolutionary way of developing Polyjuice Potions. As advanced as these mixtures were, at Lucy´s age, she found them rather tame compared with more dangerous draughts that she´d come across occasionally in her father´s library. It was here that an illegal potion had inspired her rethinking of the Polyjuice procedure.

Since she´d perfected her own version of the potion, three years ago, she´d spent her time in the underground laboratory that her family´s manor house drawing up the proposals and research thesis to pitch to the Department on Experimental Charms. It was quite an ambition for a fourteen-year-old, but the possibilities were limitless.

The theory behind it all was tiresome and tedious and Lucy found herself biting back yawns as she cited the book of dark magic she´d originally been inspired by. A little daring, this she knew, but her potion wasn´t nearly as dangerous and twice as useful. She was really distracting herself from the disturbing news her brother had just imparted to her when he´d returned to Malfoy Manor with Ron and Hermione. She thought she would be the best help to them if she just kept out of the way. In reality, who would beseech the help of a small girl in a wheelchair? She was used to the stereotype by now and rationalized that it was best to let people think what they wanted, they were comfortable in their misconceptions and she was not one to correct total strangers--that was rude.

Honestly, she was also avoiding Draco. She was a little startled when he´d returned to their grandmother´s home in Paris and ordered her to pack up quickly, they were leaving. He´d yelled and sworn at her; something he´d never really done and she was still shocked by that fact. It had to be hard for him to beg the help of his school enemies. But she knew that they would be just as eager to help as she was. It was Ginny, after all, who was in trouble and, without even knowing either Ron or Hermione, she never doubted that they wanted Ginny back safe and would do anything to achieve that.

Staying clear of the three of them and letting them figure this out on their own was the best way she could think of helping. And so she made herself scarce. But, she thought a second later as a figure appeared out of nowhere in the middle of her laboratory, crashing into a table, she hadn´t made herself scarce enough.

"Careful, Love. That´s hydrochloric acid you´ve just knocked over," she laughed, making her way over to the mess Harry had just created in her once very orderly lab. "Here, let me help you," she added, checking her laughter as he looked awfully worn and tired. Taking his arm that was turning red as he´d gotten the smallest amount of the corrosive ingredient on him, she brandished her wand and cleared it up with a well placed medical charm. "Do try to be careful next time, would you? It´s rude to go around smashing up a complete stranger´s work area as if you were an out-of-control rock band," she warned in a joking manner, winking at him before returning to the desk and carefully covering and concealing her work, she turned back to Harry.

"Have they gotten far? Do they know who the Ravenclaw heir is? Have they figured out where Ginny´s been taken?" Harry asked, sitting and removing his glasses to massage his temples.

"I´m told nothing," she said, holding up her hands hopelessly. She wished that she could tell him something, if only to keep him around a second longer. But he would naturally be eager for news and she didn´t have any, so he would have to find the others. And, depressingly enough, she would go back to work and try to ignore the fact that Harry Potter was in her house. "You do look really bad, you know?"

Harry shrugged and then added as an afterthought, "You shouldn´t tell people that they look bad. It´s rude, you know?"

"Well, I´m being honest. You really shouldn´t have come back immediately. Apparating between time zones can be tricky, especially Apparating twice in the course of twenty-four hours and against the natural flow of time at that. You must be tired," she finished, raising her eyebrows in the hopes that she could be the smallest bit of help to someone if they would just take her up on the offer.

"I need to find Malfoy, Ron and Hermione," he said, standing and replacing his glasses determinedly. Lucy gave a mental sigh, of course he did. It was selfish of her for even thinking of monopolizing him.

"Portia´s just outside the door. She will be glad to take you to Draco," Lucy said, unceremoniously, turning to her store of ingredients wasted on the ground where Harry had crashed into them and began to clean up.

Harry nodded, but said nothing more and left immediately, closing the door behind him.

Lucy set back to her mindless work and cursed herself mentally for being a coward and a useless invalid. But, seconds later, she became frustrated in her half hearted attempts at distracting herself and decided fresh air was the best thing for self-pity.

***

After Harry had explained to them how he´d finally recovered the fibula with Anni´s help, he set himself to the task of digging through volume after volume on obscure facts about the Hogwarts Founders and the like, just as Hermione had done for the past four hours. Hermione was taking a break and had curled up on the sofa.

Malfoy had left almost immediately after Harry had finished speaking and hadn´t returned for the remainder of the evening.

Ron had disappeared to who knows where, and that was no exaggeration. Malfoy Manor was enormous and the grounds expansive. He could have been anywhere.

As Harry had been struggling to keep his focus, yawning intermittently, the small house elf that belonged to Lucy entered and scurried over to him.

"I will show you to your room, sir if you would like," she offered. Harry glanced at Hermione who looked just as comfortable on the couch as she would have in a bed, asleep for the moment, with no sign of returning to consciousness soon.

Harry took her up on the offer, feeling his eyelids growing heavier by the moment. He would be no help to Ginny like this.

The elf showed him into a sizable room at the end of a long corridor on the first floor of the house. Harry was grateful for the comforting noise of a crackling fire lighting the grate against one wall and an enormous bed on the opposite side.

Thanking the elf for her attentions he shut the door and climbed under the warm, enveloping linen fully clothed and gave in almost immediately to the sleep deprivation that had been nagging at him since he´d arrived in New York nearly eighteen hours ago.

***

Draco had had just about enough of Harry Potter, the boy hero´s stories of near misses and daring capers with his wonder cousin. He knew it was petty, this grudge he still harbored against him, but he wasn´t one to let things go easily.

The only sound he´d heard on this side of the house was his feet on the cold marble floor. Hardly anyone came down this way, and that was why Draco liked it so much. He was alone. Now he could think properly.

He walked down the rows of rapiers, like Potter´s. Some had blunted tips. Those he didn´t mess with. Running his hand idly along the hilt of each of these faux weapons, his fingertips came to rest on that of his sword--fencing sword like all the rest, only this one had not blunted edge, no guarded tip. That was the point, whether for practice or not, each action, each practiced movement had its consequence hanging on the sharp edge of the blade. He wouldn´t gloss over the unsavory side of things. Life was life. People got hurt--some died, others killed them. There was no protective edge on life.

He´d gone through the drill before. Now he did it mechanically, but with fluid grace. His father had taught him everything he knew about fencing. His father had taught him virtually everything he knew--about anything. That wasn´t a pleasant realization.

Slashing one way, jabbing another, sparring an invisible opponent--Draco thought best in this atmosphere. He was dismayed at how little information he´d actually gleaned from Granger, more he reasoned, than he´d known before, but only enough to figure out Voldemort´s motives (basic motives) and how it involved Ginny and Potter. The other individual involved was still a mystery that they were coming no closer to solving. They didn´t even know where Ginny had been taken.

For the first time in he didn´t even care to calculate how long, Draco felt hopeless--without options. But he would not entertain the thought that it might be too late for Ginny. If he was still breathing on this earth, there was a chance he could get to her.

He clenched his jaw, furious for letting the thought that she might already be gone creep into his mind, he made a violent lunge to strike his unseen nemesis. Then the nemesis became real and present.

"Tuck in on your left side, you leave yourself open entirely. I would have had you sliced open and your entrails on the floor in half a second´s time," a voice drawled coldly from the doorway. It was his father.

Drano nodded, recovering his cool facade before turning around to greet the familiar voice. His first thought was automatically with Granger, Potter and Wesley. He hoped that they had enough sense and decorum not to wander about in another person´s home, especially Lucius Malfoy´s home. There was a chance that they hadn´t been detected and if so, he could keep it that way if they remained where they were. "Yes, father," he answered in the same monotone as the older man.

"Cut your trip a bit short, have you?" Lucius asked with a knowing smile. Typical, Draco thought. He knew just about everything. Then he wondered if his father had followed him as far as the Weasley´s. His answer came in the next second.

"Is your sister with you?" he asked with disdain. Draco knew he hadn´t followed him back to England, probably as far as Rue du Grand Cours where he´d picked up Lucy and wasted no more time with him. He wouldn´t have asked if he´d seen Draco leave with her.

"Yes, she´s here. Although, I couldn´t say where exactly at the moment," Draco said, revealing nothing with his features or his tone.

"Wild little terror. Running about like a heathen. Not even paralyzing the little wretch keeps her still or out of one´s business," he commented with the slightest bit of disgust.

Draco took a claming breath and reminded himself that raging against his father´s treatment of Lucy would get him no where just now. It was best to play it out, see what he wanted. His father had not become suspicious of Draco´s wavering loyalty. Indeed, Draco was still unsure of it himself.

"I have a proposition for you," his father said, changing subject and continuing in a brighter tone. If by brighter, one means amused at the prospect of fathomless of death and torture on the horizon, Lucius Malfoy seemed to brighten as he changed subject.

"What is that?" Draco asked, setting his sword aside and following his father out of the room and down the hall.

***

Lucy went out into the garden to enjoy the bright sky at night, lit by the full moon. She was frustrated with everything and everyone inside that house. She saw first hand the animosity her brother shared with Harry and his two friends. Working with them would not be made easier by bickering. They didn´t seem as if they could stay in the same room with each other. And that behavior would not help Ginny.

Looking out into the rolling expanse of hills behind the manor, she suddenly missed her horse, Master Shakespeare. It had been so long ago that she´d ridden him over these grassy hills. He´d nearly taken the blame and the consequences for her almost fatal accident three years ago. She fought hard for that horse. He´d almost been put down for the crimes of another. She sent him to France to live with her grandmother where he would be safe. But, of course, she would never ride him again and her visits there were few and far between.

"Oh, Christ. There´s another one!" an angry voice spat from somewhere behind her, causing Lucy to start slightly. As she turned back to the terrace she saw Ginny´s brother, Ron, sitting there. She hadn´t met him as such, but she knew who he was immediately, aided by Ginny´s faithful description of him. She couldn´t see right away why Ginny was so fond of him as he glared menacingly at her, but she figured that it was just an act. He was probably not himself in an unfamiliar environment, with so much more to worry about on top of all of that.

"Another one what?" she asked curiously, not that she didn´t already get his meaning. She was determined to be kind and charitable to any guest in her home, no matter how scathing they were to her. There were far more vile creatures passing through this house on her father´s invitation as to make this one sarcastic redhead no threat at all. "Another Malfoy? Is that your meaning? You need not be alarmed on my account. I don´t see how you could find me threatening in the least," she said indicating her wheelchair. He hadn´t seemed to notice before. That was the extent of his distraction. She smiled as curiosity replaced the malice in his features and then melted into a sheepish look of embarrassment as he muttered an apology for his lack of manners and observation skills.

"It´s quite alright. I don´t take offense, I´m used to it. What are you doing out here? Don´t you think you should get some sleep? You´ve got to be exhausted," she finished, surveying him with concern.

"Yes, I am exhausted," he admitted with a labored nod. "But I can´t sleep. I´m worried about my sister. I should--," he began and then eyed the girl who sat across from him listening intently and stopped.

"You feel as if you should be doing something?" Lucy answered for him and he stared back, unblinkingly.

"I can´t get to her. I´ve broken my promise, the promise I made that day in the hospital. I told her that I would never leave her alone to deal with this by herself. She tried to kill herself again and I didn´t even know about it and now she could be...she could be--," he stopped again and looked to the ground. He couldn´t put into words what he thought might happen to his sister and his promise to her didn´t mean anything. He couldn´t protect her.

"She knows you´ll get to her if you can. But, from what I know about her, Ginny´s not entirely helpless herself. She´s capable of handling this on her own," Lucy said in a confident tone.

Ron wanted to argue, after all who was this little girl anyway? What did she know about Ron or his family? But she spoke surely and held his gaze confidently, she was undeterred and effected a knowing sort of grace that made one easy around her and completely assured by her words. "You do need to sleep, however. You´re no good to us this way," she urged with a kind smile. "I´ll show you to your room if you like. I can have some tea brought up as well."

Ron nodded, knowing she was right. He´d seen her at first as an enemy that he could use as a distraction from his self loathing reverie and, as it turned out, she´d become even more useful as someone to confide in. He was comforted tremendously by her kind and unobtrusive attention. His last thought in seeing her retreat from the room she´d shown him into, was how different she was from her brother.

He burrowed under the covers of the enormous bed and gave into the nagging tiredness that had been prodding at the back of his mind the entire time. He was asleep the instant his head hit the pillow, finally having relieved himself of some of the guilt he was feeling about Ginny. He was still worried into a frenzy, but sleep won out this time.

Lucy closed the door and left Ron to himself. She´d seen him drink down the last of the tea on the tray and then yawn. She felt the slightest twinge of guilt in having laced the drink with a mild sleeping potion, but it was better than having him waste the entire night with tossing and fitful sleep. He would feel well rested in the morning and as a result could spend his time in a more productive manner than sitting in dark corners and startling her wherever she went.

"It´s time to prove where your loyalties lie, son," she heard, causing her to stop just short of rounding the corner to the library. It was her father´s voice. Peaking around the bend, Lucy saw that he was speaking to an interested Draco. This would prove very useful information, she decided, settling herself into a position that she could both hear and see from that was also concealed enough to hide her if either of them chanced a look in this direction.

"I know that you´ve spent a fair amount of time in the company of this girl. I won´t comment on your strange taste in women, Draco. I only warn you not to become attached to the Weasley girl, she has other uses, I don´t doubt. But, once the Dark Lord has his information from her, she will die." He stopped just in front of the library, placing a hand on the door as if just about to enter. Lucy gave a start, realizing just then that Hermione was still in there.

"She means nothing to me, I assure you," Draco answered mechanically. He sounded so convincing that it alarmed Lucy slightly. Lucius smiled at the lack of sentiment. Whether he believed his son or not, Lucy couldn´t tell.

"The Dark Lord has requested your presence as well. It will be historic. He is making a bid for immortality and he wishes for you to be present. You know he has high expectations for you, as have I. I don´t need to remind you of the effort he has invested in your grooming. You could be a great leader some day. That is our hope. You shouldn´t pass this opportunity up, Draco," he continued, opening the door and entering, motioning for Draco to follow. Lucy gasped and covered her mouth. Maybe Hermione had gotten up and gone to bed along with the others. That was a little optimistic, but it was all Lucy could hope for right now.

***

Hermione woke to the sounds of conversation outside of the door. She vaguely remembered Harry coming back and telling them that the fibula had been obtained with only the slightest of hitches. She wondered how long she´d been asleep, but was frozen to her spot in the next instant when she caught the unmistakably cold drawl of Lucius Malfoy. As she listened closely she could make out some of the conversation. He was talking to Draco. She distinctly heard him mention "the Weasley girl." So, of course he was in on it. She strained to hear Draco´s comments, a little harder to decipher over the dominating tones of his father. But she heard his reply, meticulous and calculated, "She means nothing to me, I assure you."

Her breath caught in her throat and she was unsure what to make of all of this. She was predisposed to think that Draco had only good intentions toward Ginny. But she hadn´t the time right now to mull over it all in her mind, she heard the clanking of antique hardware near the entrance. Someone´s hand was on the door knob. They would enter and find her there.

She desperately cast about for someplace to hide herself.

She heard Lucius´ pitch to his son about the positive effect that Voldemort´s favor could have on his pending career in the Dark Arts. She would have scoffed if she´d had a moment to spare.

Then she saw it and the perfect opportunity to keep her eavesdropping vantage point and stay hidden, free from detection all at once. Harry had left his bag at the foot of the chair he´d been sitting in before he´d gone off to bed. She whispered a prayer thanking Harry for being so careless with his things and quickly grabbed up the bag and slipped the invisibility cloak over her, just as he door opened, admitting Lucius Malfoy and Draco.

She could see the relieved look that passed briefly over the younger Malfoy´s features as he scanned the room and found none of them there and no sign that they had been there previously. Lucius looked as he always did to her: evil beyond compare.

"Of, course," Lucius continued, "you have the choice to decline if you wish. But I would council you against that. It is better if he is convinced of your loyalty early on." He sat in the deep leather armchair behind the mahogany desk Draco had occupied earlier that day. "He wouldn´t even suspect me of what I´m planning at this very moment," he leaned back and smiled a smile that clearly showed how pleased he was with himself. She was intrigued, but she kept her mind on the issue at hand.

Hermione thought of their earlier conversation. Had he seemed sincere to her when she´d asked about his intentions with Ginny, or had she seen what she wanted to see and ignored the truth completely? She began to doubt everything and, more dangerous than that, she began to doubt if Ginny could be helped if the people that had her were half as cunning and malicious as the two people seated in front of her. (Well, one for sure, the other was still doubtful).

"I´ll take your council. What time are we expected?" Draco said after a moment´s deliberation.

Lucius smiled an elegant, but greedy Cheshire cat like smile, "Perfect, we will leave as soon as you´ve changed. It´s rather cold this time of evening where we´re going."

Draco nodded and stood to execute his orders as swiftly as he could, unaware of Hermione´s mutinous gaze on him the entire time.

***

"Get up Potter," Draco commanded, kicking the bed post impatiently.

"What is it?" Harry asked, startled and bleary-eyed, "Have you found something?"

"Yes, my father. He´s taking me to her. Voldemort wants me for something. I´m not sure how this is going to play out, but if I can at least get to Ginny, there´s a chance I can get her out." Harry´s focus came back to him as he reached over to the pillow next to his head where his glasses were resting. Replacing them, he saw Draco, standing over him, lines of concentration and seriousness etched on his face in the low light of the room. He was shrouded in a traveling cloak. Harry´s mind took even longer to catch up, but Draco didn´t wait for that. "I want you to promise me something," he added in a hassled voice.

"Huh?" was Harry´s less than articulate reply.

Draco shook his head as if he were proceeding with this conversation against his better judgment.

"Look after Lucy for me," he continued unsteadily. It made him very uneasy to be entrusting his sister, his only family to his enemy. But, as fate would have it, Harry Potter was virtually the only person he could trust at the moment. As much as he hated to admit it, he knew Potter would keep an eye on her if he´d asked.

"Why?" Harry asked, startled by the charge.

"I don´t want her involved in this and my father has just asked about her. I know its not out of concern, he´s planning something." He´d seen how Harry looked at her and it was a look that assured him that he wouldn´t let anything happen to her. He was clenching his jaw at the thought, as if it was the most difficult thing he´d ever experienced, placing Lucy´s safety in his hands.

"How will you--," Harry began, but Draco stopped him.

"My father is still in the house. I have no time to explain. I´ll be in contact if at all possible. You, Granger and Weasley keep looking for the other heir on this end. And keep an eye on Lucy. I don´t like what all of this adds up to."

Draco swept out of the room before Harry had even swung his feet to the floor. Harry reached for the door that he´d just shut and came out into the hallway. Draco had already disappeared leaving Harry alone in the cold stone passage with a million questions kicking around in his painfully fuzzy mind.