Unexpected Places

Snape and Harry apparated to the edge of the Malfoy property, wands in hand, ready for anything. They were ready for anything but what they saw. The Manor was glowing a pale green in the growing darkness. Harry didn’t understand what it meant. He was unfamiliar with Wizarding ancestral homes. He turned to Snape to ask but stopped. Snape was so pale, he looked like a ghost. His usual blank expression was gone and Harry could see horror, anguish and hopelessness.

“What’s wrong? What does that mean, Professor?” he demanded feeling worried. Snape looked down at him and Harry shivered at the look in his eyes.

“Some of the oldest Manors have spells on them that are invoked by the lord of the house. It makes them impenetrable. It was usually used during sieges and if Muggles were attacking. No one can get out, no one can get in unless the lord of the house releases the spell.” He said in a toneless voice. Harry turned and looked at the house with new understanding.

“Well then, Hermione will just have to convince Malfoy to release the spell so she can leave. I’m sure she can do that.” He said confidently but Snape shook his head.

“It’s not that simple, Potter. Draco doesn’t have the power to lock down the house. He is not the lord of the house and will not be until his father’s death.”

Harry suddenly understood what Snape was saying. “Hermione and Alex are locked in there with Lucius Malfoy! We have to get them. There has to be a way in.” he said. He turned and ran towards the front door. When he reached it he tried to open it but it was as if the door was glued shut. Even the handle wouldn’t turn.

“It’s useless, Potter. There is nothing we can do about it. The spell is too strong. It has been reinforced by hundreds of Malfoy ancestors.” Snape said from behind him as Harry started kicking the door and the small window next to it.

“There is always a way, Professor.” Harry said and pulled his wand. He tried various spells but none of the worked.

“Wait! Cissy told me once that there was a weakness. There had to be so that they could send messages or whatnot. Be quiet and let me think.”

Harry stopped and turned to watch Snape think. There had to be some way to help. He didn’t want to lose his best friend.


Just a few feet away on the other side of the door, Hermione stared at Draco.

“Your father is here somewhere? And we are locked in here with him?” she asked shaking her head. Could her day possibly get any worse? Draco nodded, his eyes wide. Hermione held Alex tighter to her and reached into her pocket for her wand but it wasn’t there. Draco had seen the movement and winced.

“Where is my wand?” she hissed at him. He shook his head slightly and a noise on the stairs made them both spin around. Lucius Malfoy was standing at the top with a wand in his hand.

“Are you looking for this, Miss Granger?” he said in his cool voice. Hermione glared at him.

“Give me my wand.” She demanded and he laughed. Draco stepped back, knowing that laugh was not a good sign. It meant the Lucius was in a good mood and Lucius in a good mood was not good for anyone else.

“I think not. I should thank you Draco for bringing her and the child here. You have saved me the trouble of slipping into Hogwart’s.” Lucius drawled and Draco glared at him.

“You are not going to hurt her or Alex. Let us out.” He demanded. Lucius just laughed again.

“I don’t think so. I think I will kill you and her. And of course the child. I couldn’t let it live now could I? Not Narcissa’s bastard. I killed the first one and now I will kill the second. Poor Snape will never have an heir.”

The pieces clicked in Hermione’s mind and she realized that Narcissa must have been the mother of his daughter so many years before. She shook her head.

“You are not going to hurt my son, you bastard. I’ll kill you first.” She hissed angrily.

The smile on Lucius’s face disappeared and he snapped the wand he had been toying with in half. Hermione gasped at the destruction of her wand but Draco pulled her back a few steps.

“Run and hide little mouse because I will find you and when I do, you are dead.” Lucius said turning and disappearing into the hallway. Hermione turned to Draco with a bewildered expression.

“He wants to chase us. It’s all a game to him. We can’t get out so we hide, he finds us and kills us. I’m sorry Hermione. I guess I messed up a lot this time, huh?” he said pulling her into a hug. She shook her head.

“You may have brought me here, Draco, but the evil is his alone. Even without my wand, we can do something. Are you sure there is no way out? Are there any spare wands anywhere? Is there anywhere we can hide that he won’t find us immediately?” she asked her mind racing. He gave her a surprised look.

In his mind they were already dead because no one could escape his father. His father had been the one thing Draco had always been afraid of because one tended to see their parents as the invincible and an invincible Lucius Malfoy was something to be terrified of. His eyes widened.

“Yes! The catacombs. He doesn’t know that I know my way around there because I always snuck in while he was gone. He… tortured people down there and some of the rooms were used for storage so we might find something there. There are two ways to get in. Come one.” He said in a low voice. He grabbed her hand and pulled her through several rooms and into the kitchen. He opened a door and Hermione saw a stairway that led downstairs into a cellar.

Draco started to go down but Hermione stopped him with a hiss. “Food, Draco. If we are down there for a while, we will need food. Otherwise we are dead.” He blinked at her for a moment then nodded. They opened the cooler and several cupboards. Hermione sat what was edible without cooking on the counter.

“You have your wand. Shrink it.” She told him and he followed her orders. She placed the shrunken bundle in the baby’s bag and then they went downstairs. Draco shut the door behind them and it left them in darkness.

Outside the Manor, Snape was pacing back and forth muttering to himself. Finally he stopped.

“Cissy told me once that they had a bolt hole. You had to go through the catacombs to get through it and it came out at a cave on the… east side of the manor. If we find that cave, we may be able to find our way into the manor.” He said. Harry nodded and turned to walk into the woods on the east side of the house.

“Potter, don’t be foolish. No one knows where we are. We have to send a message before we can go in.” Snape said snarkily and Harry smiled.

“Expectro Patronum” he said and a silver stag came out the end of his wand. Harry instructed it to find as many Order members and tell them to come to Malfoy Manor. It was no more than ten minutes and Mad-eye Moody appeared. Harry quickly explained the situation to him and Moody agreed to wait for the other Order members to arrive.

“We can attack the shielding, Potter. It won’t break it down but at least he’ll know we are here and he may not think anyone is looking for that bolt hole if we are attacking.” Moody said. Harry nodded. He and Snape disappeared into the woods to look for the cave.

They searched for about a half hour before finding it and Harry literally fell into it. He had been searching when he had tripped over a large tree root. He had fallen forward into some bushes and beyond them into a small cave. Harry called for Snape.

They stared into the darkness for a moment. Harry hoped that this was what they thought it was and Snape hoped that his son and the love of his life were still alive for him to rescue. If they weren’t, he would personally wipe the Malfoy’s off the face of this earth. As they started walking, both hoped they were not too late.

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