Pilfered Progeny - Stolen Dreams

Blaise looked about as the floo activated later that evening. He'd just gotten out of the shower and was toweling his hair dry when he trotted down the stairs to see Harry step out, dusting the soot off his clothes. "Harry…!" Blaise smiled warmly.

"Nice to see you again… how's Draco? Big as a house yet…?"

"Not yet… but getting there." Harry laughed. "He's getting quite a tummy. as beautiful as a winter rose…"

"Get pictures. Lots of them…" he recommended, continuing to dry his hair for a moment.

"Oh, I have; scads of them. Draco loves attention but he's threatened me within an inch of my life if I take more than twenty photos a day. Accuses me of turning into another Colin Creevey…" Harry chuckled softly, then sobered, glancing around. "Is Ron about…?"

"Oh, most definitely." He said, turning back to the stairs. "Ron..! Hey Ron..! Charlie! Harry's here…" he called.

Ron trotted down the stairs, combing out his damp hair as he moved. "Oh, hi Harry… good to see you…" he smiled, looking happier than Harry had seen him since this whole mess had begun.

Harry looked from Blaise to Ron, his grin growing. "Ron…?"

"It's not what you think… really…" he started, blushing instantly. "Well… maybe it is, but… Hermione's okay with it, and so is Charlie, I just…"

"There's nothing wrong with it, you know…" Harry laughed reassuringly. "I already knew that Charlie was okay with it; he and I talked all the time about the possibilities that could arise if you ever needed a place to stay…"

"Did he talk to EVERYONE about it…?" he asked, embarrassed.

"Pretty much." Blaise smirked. "Everyone but Ginny…"

Ron made a face. "Just lovely…"

"What I want to know, though, is if you're okay mate." Harry asked softly. "I mean with Hermione and all…?"

Ron's smile faded and he shrugged. "I dunno…" he said, looking down. "I mean, she came over and we had this horrible scene where she tried to convince me that divorcing me would be the best thing for everyone…"

"I knew she'd ask you for it… what did you do…?" Harry asked.

"I told her she was absolutely mental to even consider it and I threw the bloody papers into the fire… But then, she… she told me to find someone else…"

Harry moved over to him. "We'll get through this; you know I'm right here with you, mate…"

"Yeah, I know… I've got you and Rosie and Blaise and Charlie to keep me going. I really didn't know what to do…"

"Well you can curl up with me anytime, even if it's just a platonic snuggle. I'd rather have more, but that'll be by your choice. You won't be hiding from the world or giving up on yourself anytime soon if I have anything to do with it, Ron." Blaise smiled.

"I know; I won't, I promise." He smiled warmly, giving Harry a grin as well.

"So what's up, Harry…? I'm assuming this isn't a casual visit, or Draco would be here too…" Charlie spoke up, trotting down the stairs as well, tugging a shirt on.

Harry grinned softly at the older Weasley boy. "Always straight to the point, eh Charlie…?"

"Can't help it; it's become more than just a habit. Kind of dangerous to do anything else when you work with dragons." he shrugged with a grin.

"I've come to ask your help."

"Ask; you know we'd do anything for you and Draco." Ron said simply.

"Like a drink, Harry…?" Blaise offered. "You know, you can sit down, too…"

"Perhaps we all should have a drink, and have a seat as well." Harry agreed.

"It's that mess Hermione's involved with isn't it?" Ron asked, moving to help Blaise get drinks for everyone.

Harry nodded, taking a seat in the red chair near the window. "Yeah… our best bet to ensure she gets to have credit for everything she's done is to catch Pansy red-handed."

Blaise looked curious. "Exactly how would we be able to do that?"

"Bait." Charlie said quite simply, understanding instantly.

"Bait…? But…oh… You mean…?" Ron knew exactly what Pansy was after; Hermione had just told him that. He blushed deeply and shuddered at the thought of Pansy 'harvesting' his sperm.

Harry nodded. "Exactly. She wants Ron and me most of all; she's already sold our sperm. She wants us so bad she'll make the mistake we need her to and stroll right into our trap. Let's give her a shot…"

"You mean… let her come here, and… and…" Ron looked disgusted. "I'd much rather have nothing at all to ever do with that murderous, vile, smarmy bitch…"

"I can take Ron's place. Use polyjuice…" Charlie offered.

"She wants you too, Charlie. If it was all four of us she wouldn't be able to resist for sure…" Harry answered as Ron and Blaise brought everyone drinks, taking seats as well.

"It's just… all of this is her fault." Ron said, scowling. "Even if some good came out of it…" he glanced at Blaise and blushed slightly. "That Parkinson is one evil, twisted git."

"I've registered blood feud against the entire Parkinson clan. I WILL take her down." Harry said with a soft growl.

"Are you sure she won't get anything from us…?" Ron asked.

"Certain. We've plans for that as well, thanks to Severus Snape."

Ron bit his lip and considered a moment, then sighed. "All right… what is it we have to do…?"

"Thanks Ron…" Harry gave his old roommate a grin and took a drink. The four settled down to discuss the plans and exactly how things were to proceed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~.

Pansy slipped behind the wheel of her Bentley Azure, taking a moment to smile as she stroked the steering wheel of the expensive muggle vehicle. It wasn't a bad thing, owning one of these silly things… it made lots of noise but got her more than a little attention whenever she went about her errands in the muggle world. Oh, she planned to buy quite a variety of these cars within the next year… sales were going incredibly well and she'd be able to afford to buy anything she wished…!

She licked her lips, smiling at her reflection a moment in the mirror. Oh, yes, everything was going swimmingly. Even daddy was happy with her and how things were proceeding. She'd just gotten a call from Hermione Weasley… or was she going to change it back to Granger now? She'd been separated from that husband of hers for weeks. It didn't matter what the bloody hell she called herself; if everything worked out this evening, she'd adopt her as a Parkinson!" Potter, Charlie and Ron Weasley, and Zabini all together in one nice neat little package… ohhh it was almost too good to be true. One fell swoop, and she would be a very, very wealthy witch. And since daddy had finished his little 'project' successfully, she would be retiring and vanishing out of this community of dullards… perhaps move to Germany…? She'd leave poor little Hermione holding the bag and all the blame for the entire operation… and a little call to the Aurors office to drop the hint of something smarmy going on would surely get her thrown in Azkaban for the rest of her pitiful little life. Oh. Poor thing… she grinned wickedly, pulling into traffic.

But she wasn't unprepared, if it did turn out to be a double-cross. She had been impressed with Hermione's performance at their little impromptu party in the hotel room, but something still nagged at her that this entire thing could be a trap for her, somehow. She had an emergency escape plan all set up; it was just perfect…

She released her grip on the wheel of the Azure, and it sped on through traffic on its way as it was spelled to do, doing all of the driving for her. It had definitely been worth the money to have that mad old wizard do those controlling spells upon the vehicle; she hadn't had to bother to try to learn to drive it. She relaxed to enjoy the view and the ride; soon she would meet up with Hermione and ride in her car to Blaise and Charlie's flat… Oh, this was going to be a night to remember… and Hermione had better not be late!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~.

Harry answered his cell after checking the phone number. "Yes…? Oh, hey Tonks… yes. Everything is ready on our end. She's on her way, is she…? All right… Yeah. Okay, see you soon. Thanks…" he hung up and looked at the others. They were as ready as they could be for what was coming; none of them really knew what to expect. All they had to go on was what Tonks had seen during her 'party' with Pansy, and what Hermione had told them. Details on what she had used were far too sketchy for the liking of any of them. Ron seemed to be the most nervous of all about the entire thing.

Ron began to pace slowly. "Remind me again why we've invited that backstabbing, family ruining, hateful bitch over here…?" He requested, running his fingers nervously through his hair.

Blaise moved up behind Ron and wrapped his arms about him. "To send her directly to Hell, baby…" he murmured softly, kissing his neck.

Ron sighed, settling against him. "That's one reason I agreed to all of this… that and the fact that I trust Harry…"

"She thinks Hermione's arranged a meeting to reconcile with you… the word's been put out that you two have drawn up divorce papers. Tonks is going to be posing as Hermione, by the way…"

He nodded, only half-listening. "All right… I'll do whatever it takes… I want all this crap done with so we can just get on with our lives…"

"You don't have anything to worry about; I won't let her touch you…!" Blaise growled.

Charlie gave his brother a reassuring smile. "If I can stop a dragon, I can stop her, little brother. She's definitely not a dragon." He said, putting a hand on his brother's shoulder.

Ron smiled at him. "Yeah… I guess…"

"You three look good together." Harry grinned, making Ron blush.

"I just… I feel safe. And it all feels right… I just wish Hermione could be here too…"

"You belong with us." Blaise shrugged. "And she'll be with us when she can be…"

The younger redhead wizard sighed. "So how do I… how do I act toward her…? Pansy, I mean…"

"You've never liked Pansy anyway." Charlie shrugged. "Act however you want. She'd probably be suspicious if you were acting friendly, anyway."

"She was trying to drag me back into the back of the clinic to get me to have tea with her a couple of weeks ago; now I know why…" Ron said with a frown.

"Good thing you didn't or she'd have less reason to come tonight. I'm sure that Pansy will more than likely leave you to Hermione, since you've brushed her off before…" Harry answered.

"Yeah… and … I know its Tonks and not really Hermione, but that isn't gonna make it any easier…" he sighed.

"You worry too much, Ron." Charlie laughed teasingly. "You worry even more than mum does…!"

"I can't help it…" he shrugged.

"Just go and have a calming draught; they ought to be here soon." Charlie advised. Ron gave him a soft smile, still clearly worried, and moved off to get the potion. Charlie scowled, watching him go. "I don't really like any of this either, but we're gonna go through with it… damn that Pansy anyway…"

"Come on, dragon-tamer. Let's get it all set up…" Blaise led him off; following Harry as he led them all back into the living room. Harry glanced at the clock, feeling highly impatient. Where the bloody hells were they?! They should have already been here by now…!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~.

Ron jumped when the doorbell rang, still high-strung and nervous despite the calming potion he had drunk. "Bloody hell…!" he muttered.

"Easy, Ron…" Charlie said, moving to answer the door to find Tonks/Hermione and Pansy at the door, as expected. "Hi there…" he said in a welcoming tone. "Come on in…"

Ron rose to his feet, trying to conceal his emotions and his nerves. He found his eyes drawn to Tonks/Hermione and he felt it all come back… damn he loved her and wanted to be with her… was Harry really sure that wasn't the real Hermione…?

"I haven't seen you in a long time, Blaise…!" she beamed, smiling sweetly as she gave him a peck on the cheek and moved inside. She didn't seem like she was after anything but a very casual and friendly visit.

"Pansy…" he smiled. "You look really good… you know my husband, Charlie…?"

"Yes, of course… Ron's brother, right…?" she smiled. She was all manners and proper behavior, dressed in an outfit that hugged her youthful curves and made her appear years younger. "And Harry…! Good lord, it's been years… I heard the good news, congratulations…!" she moved over and hugged him. "It's fantastic…"

"Thank you Pansy. Draco's very happy as am I." Harry was able to answer in complete honesty.

She batted her eyes at him. "You simply have to bring him by for tea sometime; I haven't seen him since that horrible tragedy at the clinic…"

Harry forced himself to keep a bland smile on his face; he hated her more at that moment than he had hated anyone in his entire life, but doing anything would ruin the chances of catching her red-handed and getting what they needed to ensure her conviction. Once the courts had their say, he would be free to pursue his blood-feud with her. "It has been a while…"

"Far too long… you and Draco are such a sweet couple…"

"Hey 'Monie…" Ron said softly, unable to keep his eyes off her. Was Harry really sure that wasn't his wife standing there beside the door…? He couldn't see anything to tell him that it really wasn't…

"You look good Ron… I've missed you…" Tonks/Hermione said, walking over to stand near him.

"You… you look good too… Blaise is making sure I take care of myself…" he said, forcing his eyes away from her.

"Of course he is…! Blaise was always the motherly type…" Pansy grinned. "I'll never forget how he always took care of us in Slytherin House… he babied and mothered each and every one of us…" she smiled sweetly at Blaise. "You know, I'm surprised the two of you haven't had children yet…"

"Just not meant to be, I suppose…" Blaise shrugged. "Ron and Rosie are over all the time and Harry will be bringing his baby once he's born too…"

"I don't have anywhere else to go, unless I'm pestering mum and dad…" Ron said, licking his lips nervously. That damned calming draught wasn't helping… he was nervous and he could feel sweat breaking out on his lip…

"You know, Harry, I figured you'd be home with Draco, considering what his past pregnancies have been like…" Tonks/Hermione said.

"Oh, there's nothing to worry about at all; Draco is doing absolutely fantastically. Our son is strong and there's no trouble. He's over his father's house tonight, anyway…"

"Oh…? Lucius is all right with his son being pregnant with your son…? No offense, Harry, but I know how he despises you…"

"My contribution really doesn't matter… after all, it's HIS son that's pregnant, and it'll be HIS grandson once he's born. You know how he is…" Harry shrugged.

"True… After all, the baby is Draco's son; that makes him a Malfoy no matter who the father is…"

"Exactly." Harry nodded.

Pansy glanced at Tonks/Hermione and frowned. She was supposed to be getting close to Ron, how the bloody hell was she going to get him in bed to do the damned harvest if she couldn't even get close enough to touch him? Did she have to do every bloody thing herself?! "Hermione…? Don't you think you and your husband should go find a more PRIVATE place to talk…?" she asked pointedly.

"I need to… to go check the roast…" Ron murmured, turning and heading towards the kitchen.

"Ron… Ron, wait…" Tonks/Hermione said, but Ron only hurried through the door.

"Go AFTER him, Hermione…!" Pansy half-growled.

Tonks/Hermione glanced at the others and Harry gave her an imperceptible nod. They could handle Pansy. She turned and followed Ron through the kitchen door.

Charlie moved to the bar to pour a drink. "So, Pansy; tell us what you've been up to…?" he asked.

"Oh, more of the same… you know, making people's dreams come true…" she said, smiling as she strolled over, leaning on the bar.

"Oh…?" he leaned on the bar as well. "You know I never pictured you in the medical business. I figured you'd marry some rich bloke…"

She sighed melodramatically. "I couldn't find one that I liked that father even vaguely approved of… you married Charlie, and Draco went and married Harry… What's a girl to do…?"

"Your father would never have approved of either Harry or Charlie…" he scowled.

"He would have loved you or Draco, though…" she said, then shrugged delicately. "That's all in the past now, though…"

"Yes, but you, Pansy, are quite the wrong sex for any of us…"

"And that's such a tragedy…!" she pouted. "Are you all quite certain that the only gender you want is another male…?"

"I have my men; I need no others, and no women." Blaise slipped his arm about Charlie.

"Then I'll just have to carry on being single… at least until father dies." She said. "So tell me, what have all of you been up to…?

Harry sat on the couch, drink on the table. "Just work, Pansy. As always…"

"Never met a cause you couldn't take up for, have you Potter…?" she smiled, reaching for his drink. She twitched her hand ever so slightly and a small compartment on her ring fell open, concealed by her hand as she lifted the cup.

Harry shrugged. "Its what I do best…"

"You boys go sit down; I'll bring these drinks over…" she offered, taking Harry his now drugged drink.

Charlie moved to his easy chair, pulling Blaise down onto his lap and Pansy returned to the bar for the other two drinks. She picked the first glass up with her left hand, and then transferred it to her right as she picked up the second glass with her left smoothly. The drug dropped into each cup flawlessly… she brought them over to the two men in the chair and sighed. "You two do look good together… you know; perhaps I should travel; maybe my wizard is out there somewhere waiting for me in some foreign country…"

"Hum… maybe. You never know…"

"There has to be someone…" she laughed, sipping her own drink. Just carry on the conversation, and wait… "Come on, fellas…! Give me SOME hope here…!" she complained.

"They say there's someone for everyone… keep looking."

"Oh, I am… you fellows look so content maybe I should look at the witches for a change…"

That made Blaise laugh. "You? With a witch…? Now that I'd like to see…!"

She laughed as well. "Yeah… that IS a stretch, isn't it…?"

Harry checked his drink with a couple of muttered spells to detect spells or potions put into the drink… finding none, he relaxed back, sipping it.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~.

Tonks/Hermione followed Ron into the kitchen; he was standing beside the door to the garden, looking hangdog and guilty. "Ron…"

"I don't think… look, Hermione, I… I'm sorry…" he said softly.

"What…? Wait, Ron, you don't understand…"

"I didn't mean to… I want to be loyal to you, I…"

She moved to him and he bowed his head. "Ron…!" she hissed at him in quiet tone, sounding much more like herself, glancing furtively back at the closed kitchen door. "I'm NOT Hermione!" she growled in his ear.

"Oh… Oh dammit. You just… you look so much like her…" he looked up at her, need and longing clear in his expression. "You even have her eyes…" he murmured softly.

"That's the general idea when I go undercover…" she answered, unable to help a very un-Hermione like smirk.

Ron gazed at her, reaching out to touch her cheek. "I keep forgetting how good you are at that whole changing thing…"

"I'm just doing my job… I need to get back in there. We're putting the boys in danger, leaving them alone in the room with her…"

"What do I do…?" Ron asked softly.

She pointed at the back kitchen stairs. "Go on upstairs, and stay there until we call you down. I'll just tell Pansy I've already dealt with you…"

"But she'll expect the… you know…"

She held up a vial with Ron's name on it, the expected white viscous liquid inside. "Taken care of… go. Hurry now." She said in a soft, urgent tone. Ron turned and hurried up the stairs in silence. Tonks/Hermione waited just a moment or two before pushing the door open, keeping the bottle in her hand.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~.

Hermione dialed the phone, muttering soft curses under her breath. She had gone through everything; she had no doubt anymore… they had a lot more on their hands than she had even been aware of. She was still wrapping her mind about the facts that she had discovered through the course of the day. They definitely had to be stopped…

But something she had just found in her analysis of things she had brought home had nearly sent her into a panic. She had to warn Tonks, and do it right away! She tried Tonks' phone three times then recalled that she'd given her the phone she usually carried… she called that number as well and again, there was no answer the first time. Refusing to give up, she called a second time and to her surprise Severus Snape answered.

"Yes, Mrs. Weasley…?" he asked impatiently. "I have no time for you at the moment…"

"I don't need to speak to you anyway… Snape, please…!" She tried to put all the urgency she felt into the tone of her voice. "I need to speak to Tonks; it's highly important…!"

She could almost hear his sneer. "That isn't possible; she is more than a little busy at the moment…!" He growled softly. "You will simply have to wait…!"

"No! Tonks is in danger!" she snapped immediately.

"What?" he had been about to hang up; that simple statement had more than captured his attention.

"Pansy… she has a phial of Gregory's Unctuous Unction… I don't know if she has any on her, but she has it in the lab and she…"

Severus snorted with clear derision; he had for a moment thought that there was actual danger. "That's no danger to her…! Dora knows to look for such things…!" he retorted.

"Of course she does, but would she know to watch for muggle drugs…?!" Hermione demanded; she would NOT back down; she had make this snarky old snake understand!

That stopped him cold. "What muggle drugs…?"

"In the lab, in the other lab technician's station; I found both Ketamine and Rohypnol…!" she said in an urgent, worried tone. "I went to the lab and inventoried every item in there… I came across two phials and I brought small samples of them home to analyze them…"

"And you're certain of this…?"

"Absolutely certain! I'm in my car right now, on my way to Blaise's house… I tried to use the floo but it's blocked…! The phone doesn't even ring there, and Harry's phone is turned off… something is WRONG, Severus! Please! You have to help them! It'll be at least twenty more minutes before I can get there…!" she was nearly in tears but determined to get him to understand… the call ended at that moment as Severus apparated away.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~.

Tonks/Hermione expected to walk back in to a group still quietly chatting; it had become quiet in there but she could still hear Pansy's voice. She and Ron couldn't have been talking any longer than a few minutes, after all…Pansy was closing the last of the bottles… turning away from the three unconscious men lying sprawled on the floor, chair and couch. "Oh, excellent… didn't even bother sleeping with him…?" she asked in a biting tone. "You really are ready to leave the little hubby behind, aren't you…?"

"What did you do…?!" she demanded, hurrying over to check Harry."Such a worrier…!" she laughed softly. "I wouldn't do a THING to harm the supplier of my best selling product… Carpe Retractum…!" the spell snatched the bottle out of Tonks/Hermione's hand with a flick of her wand and it zipped across the room directly to Pansy's waiting hand. She slipped it away as well. "I've got what I wanted… and all is right with my world…" she said dreamily, then watched amused as Tonks/Hermione hurried over to check on Charlie. "They'll wake up a little cramped from how they're sitting in oh… about eight hours or so…" she said.

"But how…? Harry wouldn't take a tainted drink…! What spell did you use…?!" she asked, looking up at her sharply.

"Spell…?" she laughed. "Oh you really are simple, aren't you…? I wouldn't ever try to use a spell or potion on a Dragon Tamer or the husband of our lovely Draco Malfoy…"

"Drugs…?" Tonks/Hermione looked horrified. "But Blaise has Veela blood! Muggle drugs can kill him!"

"Really…? Huh. I didn't know that… how interesting…" she said in a droll and clearly uninterested tone. "I thought you were in all this for the money, Hermione…"

"I'm not a murderer! I need to get Blaise to St. Mungo's!"

"So take him. Take them all; I really don't care. Have the clinic too; I'm finished slaving needlessly away in that horrible place." She said, her wand in one hand, the other touching the pendant on her neckchain.

Tonks/Hermione scowled and pulled her wand "Incarcerous!" She snarled."Protego!" Pansy snapped at the same moment. Her spell blocked most of the magical ropes moving to seize her and she snapped the pendant off her neckchain; the portkey hidden within it was activated and suddenly Pansy was gone.