Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Nott Manor-

"For the last time," Theo huffed, eyeing the small blonde double of his best friend in his lap. "It's Theo, not Teo. Theo. T.H.E.O. 

Hermione rolled her eyes as she practiced her wand movements with Narcissa's wand in her hand. "Theo, you do realise that he's not even a year old yet?" She lifted one brow as he peered over her son's head, giving her a blank stare. "He can only say mama and, at the moment, dada. He sure won't say your name just yet properly." 

"But I'm the loving uncle!" Theo declared. "It's the nephew's job to say the uncle's name first." 

"Did you ever learn patience?" 

"Not in this lifetime." He quipped. 

"I think that it would be wise if you did," she retorted. "Patience will bring you great things if you use it appropriately." 

"You know," he clicked his tongue softly to the roof of his mouth. "For somebody that can't remember her old personality, you sure do have a way to be a know-it-all from time to time." 

"Miss the old me, do we?" Hermione teased, turning the wand in a small flick of her wrist to produce the otter Patronus that Phoenix loved to see. 

"I mean, I love both versions of you," Theo said as Phoenix began tugging at his curls around his ear, entranced by her otter dancing around them. "And I kind of like that you're not as sarcastic and bossy as you used to be, but Draco would murder me if I didn't reverse your memories. But it would be nice to have old you back here again." 

Hermione laughed softly, settling Narcissa's wand down on the sofa beside her. She watched Phoenix laugh and clap, pointing at the otter, then held her hands out to Theo to take him once the otter had vanished. He knelt on his knees and handed her son to him, settling him on her knee and began bouncing him. 

Theo then sat up, wincing from the pins and needles in his legs from sitting on the floor for too long, and sat opposite her, with Paxton jumping up beside him and settling his head into his lap. He ran his fingers through his pet's head between her fluffy ears, watching her thinking deeply across from him with her brows furrowed in thought and a grim expression across her features as she ran her fingers through her son's hair.

"Are you all right?" He asked her. 

Hermione shrugged one shoulder, keeping her eyes on the back of her son's head. "We were close once, correct?" 

"Like brother and sister." He corrected. 

Hermione nodded. "And you said that it was my decision to take my memories away, yes?" 

Theo half-shrugged, rolling his jaw. "I mean, I don't know; we only saw you asking McLaggen if this Lewis could help you. We haven't watched the last two memories yet to see if that happened." 

"What happened in my memories?" She asked, needing to know, and Theo's face paled at her question. "Is it as bad as I'm thinking?" Theo looked away, pinching his lips together in shame. "Theo?" 

"What?" He whispered, half looking at her. 

"Tell me," she pleaded. "Is my past that bad?" 

"Depends on how you define bad," he scoffed, scratching Paxton under his chin, earning a satisfied whine from him. 

"Well, how bad is bad?" She searched his face, catching the way his shoulders flinched. "Did I do something to Draco and couldn't live with the guilt? Did he do something? Did you do something? Please tell me, you said that it might not be successful in reversing my memories tomorrow, and I want to know before it happens if it's successful." 

"It's not that simple," he ran a hand through his curls. "It's...complicated, Hermione. And no, you didn't do anything wrong. It's what we did in those memories that I'm terrified about once you do remember again." 

"Why?" 

Theo took a moment to answer. He shifted uncomfortably in his seat, swallowing every two seconds as though he was thinking of the right words to say. "I don't think it's entirely our fault..." he started, chewing on his bottom lip. "But, to put it this way, we all, including the entire wizarding world, forgot about who you were to us." 

Hermione softly gasped. "Is that even possible? For everyone to forget me? That's like what? Over a thousand of the wizarding population that I've read? Perhaps more." 

"I honestly didn't think that it could be," he said, pursing his lips in aggravation. "But it obviously did briefly. We all remember you now; you just can't remember your past as a witch." 

Hermione settled her son into her lap, continuing to run her fingers through his soft blonde hair as he babbled nonsense to himself. "And this Cormac was involved?" 

"He did something to you," Theo sneered for a moment before he dropped it completely. "We just don't know what or how he made it happen." 

"Is he really that creepy?" 

"He was obsessed with you. And I mean really obsessed. You think Draco's possessive?" He scoffed. "I remember how possessive Cormac was when we were in sixth year," he shuddered. "Creep, I can't wait to get my hands on him." 

Hermione inwardly cringed. "Draco's possessive in a good way, Theo. And, I'm glad he saved me and didn't give up," she smiled warmly. "Despite whatever is in those memories you clearly feel objected to share, I don't think that I'll blame you both for it." 

"I hope not," Theo smiled sadly. "Because I've been hating myself since we started watching. So has Draco." 

Hermione nodded, kissing the top of Phoenix's head. "You seem genuinely hurt by whatever has happened, so I'm going to say this now. I forgive you." 

"You do?" 

"Yes, whatever happened in those memories, I won't resent you. Judging by the books I've read, it takes strong and powerful magic to claim someone as your own, and Lew—" she cleared her throat, forcing the hateful knot down her throat. "Cormac must've done everything in his power to make sure that I ended up alone. Trust me, he wasn't kind to me either when he pretended to be someone that he wasn't." 

"Well, he certainly succeeded," Theo tightly laughed. "Draco was a right mess before the memories." 

"What do you mean?" 

"Do you remember that day when we came to you and offered you the restaurant?" 

"You mean you did and Felix." She said.

Theo chuckled, wetting his lips. "Actually, Felix was Draco." Her eyes widened at that. "Yeah, he wanted to see you, but you wouldn't let him. Anyway, after you left us, Draco went back to the coffee shop, and he saw you two dancing in the shop late at night." His expression grew woeful. "He came back, sobbing, and wouldn't speak to me. Locked himself in his room for days, until when I went in there, I knew why he was ignoring me." 

Hermione squashed down the guilt of letting him see that. Of course, she hadn't known that he was out there and watching them at the time, but after everything that he's done for her, she knew now just how much he was willing to show that he had and still loved her. 

"Why was he ignoring you?" Her voice turned scratchy, picturing his face watching them. She couldn't bear it. 

Theo took a moment to answer. He drummed his fingers against his thigh while his face twisted into deep thought, obviously trying to think on how to word it to her. 

"There's this special spell that not many witches or wizards do," he started slowly. "It takes special training and a lot of hard work, mentality to do it too." 

Hermione nodded, interested in what he had to say. 

"It's called legilimency and occlusion," she scrunched her nose. "Legilimency is the power to look into another's mind and read their thoughts, speak to them in their mind, or read their memories. It depends how good you are at it. Anyway, Draco is good at it. I mean really fucking good at it. But there's something called an occlude coma." 

"What's that? Is that dangerous?" She asked. 

"Hm, not really, no," Theo held his hand up horizontally and tilted his hand from side to side. "But, if a wizard or witch occludes too hard when they're hurting, then they can become stuck and can't get out." 

"Is that what he—" 

"Teo!" Phoenix interrupted her, reaching for Theo once again. 

Theo laughed and scooted to the edge of the sofa, holding his arms out for him. Hermione handed him over as Theo settled Phoenix into his lap. 

"Is that what he did?" She asked, sitting back in her seat, crossing her leg over the other. 

"Yeah," he sighed, running his fingers through his nephew's hair. "It freaked me out; I wasn't quite sure what was happening. But the best way to describe it is, he sort of reminded me of a statue sitting in his armchair. His face was like stone, and his eyes changed colour too to a bright blue." He shivered, shaking his head to get the picture out of his mind. "He didn't blink, eat, drink, talk, or do anything for a few days. Until Narcissa managed to break him out of it." 

"How?" 

"She talked to him," he smiled. "Just doing what a mother can and broke down his occlumency walls. Turned out, he had built his occlumency shields really high, and he got stuck, where he couldn't get out. It's very disturbing, and I hope that I never have to see him that way again." 

Hermione immediately looked down and concentrated on her hands, twisting together in her lap. Guilt smacked her at full force in the gut at the realisation that she had done that to him in the first place. It was all her fault; she had chosen that life and left him behind as though he didn't matter to her anymore. 

A numb pain seared through her chest cavity, a tight knot twisted at the back of her throat as the salty tears welled, blurring her vision over the image cooked up in her head of what he possibly could've looked like that day Theo had found him in that state. 

"Oh, please don't cry, Hermione," Theo said in an alarmed tone. "It's not your fault—I wasn't implying that it was." 

"No, I know," she sniffed, wiping away the tears that had set free. "I'm sorry, I just... can't help but feel guilty. He's suffered so much whilst I was living a life I wanted out more than anything." 

"He doesn't hold it against you, Hermione." 

"He should—" 

"He doesn't," Theo said firmly. "He doesn't hold it against you, and he never will. Okay?" 

Hermione only nodded, drying her eyes with her hands, then held her arms out for her son, needing his comfort. Theo stood up and handed him over, with a stretch of his muscles.

"I'll go and make us some tea." He offered, about to walk past her just as the floo roared and out stepped Draco, Harry, and Blaise together. "Hey! How did it go?" 

"Fine," Draco ground out, glaring at him, and purposely knocked his shoulder with Theo's on his way past towards Hermione.

Theo winced, massaging his shoulder as he watched with parted lips, Draco walk over to Hermione, bend down, and grab her face, planting a five-second deep kiss against her lips. 

"Mate, what was that for?" Theo asked, hissing as a shooting pain shot down his arm. 

"Stop whining, would you?" He glared at him as he sat down next to Hermione, flinging his arm around her shoulders and pulling her protectively into his side. "I barely touched you." 

"What's your problem?" Theo glared right back at him, giving one last squeeze of his own shoulder, then folded his arms across his chest.

"Nothing," he said, turning to face Hermione. "What's with the tears?" 

"Oh," she batted her eyes once again. "Theo was just telling me about what happened when you watched me and Cormac through the window." His brow lifted, a grim sneer appearing. "I'm really sorry, Draco. I didn't mean to upset you." 

Draco only laughed. Fucking laughed as he pulled her—if possible—closer to his side. "Don't be sorry; I got over it and got you back. Right?" 

Hermione blinked at him, the tears in her eyes slowly fading as her brows knitted together. "I—I guess." 

"Draco?" 

He looked up at Theo, a fed-up expression crossing his features. 

"Are you all right?" 

"I'm fine, Theodore," he drawled his name as though it disgusted him. "Stop fussing. There's my son." He held his arms out, but Theo noticed that Phoenix, suddenly looking terrified of him, shied his face into Hermione's neck. "Phoenix, come to daddy." He ordered, with gritted teeth. 

Phoenix pulled away from her neck and flinched as Draco grabbed him, pulling him into his lap. Hermione, however, simply smiled watching them. 

Harry and Blaise came to either side of Theo, both just as baffled as Theo was at his change of mood. 

"What's the matter with him?" He asked them under his breath, watching the way Draco was looking at her with something he had never seen before. 

"We don't know," Blaise ran his hand over his face.

"He's been acting like this since he came up from the dungeons at the Manor." 

"Did something happen?" He swivelled his head to look at both of them. "Did someone set up a trap, and he's hit his head or something?" 

"No," Blaise shrugged. "The manor was fine. I don't know what his problem is, but he's pissing me off with his rude attitude." 

"I can hear you, Zabini," Draco sneered, glaring at all three of them. "You never have been able to keep that mouth quiet, have you? Want the whole world to hear what you're saying."

"Watch that mouth of yours, Malfoy," Blaise shot back. 

"I will when yours stops moving." 

"Draco," Hermione placed her hand on his arm. "Stop, this isn't like you." 

"You're right, it's not," he got up, shifting Phoenix onto his hip and pulling her up with him, with a forceful hand around her upper arm. She flinched with a hiss, but as soon as he looked at her, she closed her mouth shut. "Now if you'll excuse us, we've got some things that we need to do." 

"What things?" Theo asked, narrowing his eyes at his behaviour. 

"We're going home." He turned around and pulled her with him, heading straight for the door. 

"You can't leave!" Theo called at his back, and he stopped mid-stride, turning his head over his shoulder to look at him. "I warded this place; nobody can leave unless I remove the wards." 

"That's not true," Harry whispered into his ear. 

"Shut up, Harry," he gritted through his teeth. "Just follow my lead." 

"Why?" 

"Because something's telling me that's not Draco over there." He made a face, a warning deep across his features to keep quiet and follow up his act. Harry's eyes bugged, and he reluctantly nodded alongside Blaise. 

"I can't leave?" He sneered over his shoulder. 

"Nope," Theo grinned sarcastically. "Not unless I allow it. Which I won't," he added when his face changed into hope. "You can go into the gardens, but that's as far as I'll allow." 

"You're a right pain, Nott." He said coldly. 

"That's why we're best friends. Correct? Draco?" He tested him to see what he would say. 

Draco forced a tight-lipped smile, his hand tightening around Hermione's arm, almost hurting her as she made a pained expression. Theo knew right there and then that that wasn't his best friend in the room. He wouldn't hurt her. 

But Cormac would. 

But where was Draco? 

"Fine," he sighed, releasing Hermione's arm. "We'll be upstairs." With that he grabbed her arm once again and pulled her out, barely acknowledging Narcissa as she walked in and dragged Hermione out of the room. 

Narcissa gave him a confused expression as she watched them leave and head up the stairs. They waited until they heard a door close upstairs, and Theo whipped his wand out. 

"What are you doing?" Blaise asked. 

Theo ignored him. "Expecto Patronum," a blue wisp poured out of his wand, producing an eagle. It flapped around the room, then stayed in one position waiting for Theo to talk. "Pansy, Ginny. I need you both to come to Nott Manor at your earliest convenience. Hurry, I'll explain when you get here; it's important." The eagle flapped and shot through the window heading towards the girls. 

"Why did you call them over?" Narcissa asked, folding her arms over her chest. "And what's wrong with my son?" 

"That's not your son." Theo said, grabbing his shoes and jacket. 

"What do you mean?" 

"Draco came back up from the dungeons of your manor acting off all of a sudden." Blaise interjected. "Though he hasn't said it out loud, I believe Theo thinks that it's Cormac instead of Draco." 

Narcissa gasped, placing her hand to her chest. "So why not call the Aurors?" 

"Because I don't have any proof, Cissa," Theo huffed, snapping his fingers, and Paxton's lead appeared in his hands. "You, Ginny, and Pansy are the only three that I know of that are strong enough to stop him in case he tries to make a break for it." 

"Can't you just strengthen the wards?" She placed her hands on her hips, watching him put Paxton's collar and lead on. "This is your manor." 

"Draco, placed some too. I can't strengthen them all unless he's physically here to help me. And if Cormac has his wand, then we're fucked. Just keep a bloody eye on him whilst us three"—he waved his finger around him, Blaise, and Harry. "Go to the manor. If Draco is there, then we'll send a message to the Aurors and send them straight here." 

"Why are you taking Paxton?" Harry furrowed his brows. 

"To help us locate Draco with his scent." Theo said bluntly. 

Just as they pulled an 'ah' face, the girls came through the floo together, walking up to them. 

"What? This better be urgent, Theo. I was in the middle of getting my hair done." Pansy scowled, one side of her hair soaking wet, the other side fluffed and dried. 

"Forget your hair, woman; there are more important things going on." Theo scowled right back at her, grabbing Draco's jacket he left on the back of the chair from the day before. 

Pansy gasped in offence, clutching her precious hair, and murmured. "Don't listen to him, babies. He didn't mean it." 

"Pans focus," Theo snapped his fingers at her. 

"What's going on, Theo?" Ginny folded her arms over her chest. 

Theo explained the whole situation over with them again, about Draco's—or rather Cormac's—behavior. Then Harry and Blaise said that he had flipped like a switch when he came back up the dungeons. Then he went over the plan with them; by the time he was done, they both agreed. 

Pansy cast a quick drying charm over her hair. "I'll distract Hermione by doing her hair or something for a while. It takes time, and he won't be able to touch her whilst I'm busy."

"Good, just do whatever you need to do." Theo rushed heading to the floo. "Ginny or Cissa, one of you keep Phoenix out of his reach. Poor kid is frightened of him." 

"I will, just make sure my son isn't hurt too badly." Narcissa worried. 

"I'll bring him back in one piece, I promise." Theo promised. "Pansy, send a Patronus if something goes wrong. Got it?" 

She nodded and left the room, walking straight past Zach in the shadows, who had been eavesdropping the entire time. He smirked at her retreating form as she headed up the stairs towards Hermione and patted Draco's wand in his pocket, a plan already in place in the back of his mind. Narcissa soon followed out with Ginny and headed up the stairs with her just as Theo, Harry, and Blaise went through the floo, leaving him all alone downstairs. 

"Good luck getting him out." Zach chuckled to himself, grabbing a vial of poppy seed powder from his suit jacket, and walked up the stairs to wait for the right moment to knock them all out cold to take her.

He walked upstairs and heard faint chatter coming from Hermione's room; he walked in, hiding the poppy seed powder behind his back as all eyes turned to him. He plastered on a fake Draco-like smile across his face. 

"What are you girls up to?" He asked coolly. 

"Oh, hey, Draco," Pansy said in a sweet, fake voice. "I'm just about to give Hermione a makeover. Don't mind, do you?" She arched one brow. 

"Of course not, as long as Hermione doesn't mind?" He looked at her, and she shrugged, handing Phoenix into Narcissa's arms. 

"I don't mind; I've been thinking of changing it for a while." 

"Well, then," Pansy conjured a chair for her and patted it once, sitting her in front of the mirror at an angle so that she could see Cormac in the mirror. From her vision she could see him, taking a seat in the far corner of the room, watching them all with an indifferent expression etched across his features. 

Yeah, that definitely wasn't him. He seemed darker and more shallow than she had ever seen him before. Theo was right. 

Keep an eye on him, ladies. Pansy sent a telepathic message to Narcissa and Ginny, sitting on the window seat holding Phoenix. 

I can see it in his face in the mirror. He's plotting something. 

Narcissa carefully looked out of the corner of her eyes whilst she kissed Phoenix's cheek and caught the expression. Ginny did the same thing, slipping her hand into her pocket and gripping her wand tightly, getting herself ready for whatever he was going to do to them.

We'll have to be careful with Phoenix here. We can't let him get hurt. Narcissa replied to her mind. 

Zach looked at them out of the corner of his eye, sensing that they were talking through legilimency. Narcissa and Ginny quickly looked away and focused their attention on Phoenix instead. Zach bit back a smirk as he moved his eyes back to Hermione smiling at him in the mirror whilst she looked as though she was in heaven with Pansy running her fingers through her curls. 

He forced a smile back, watching all four women carefully, and slipped his hand into his pocket, gripping Draco's wand tight in his hand, and opened the vial of poppy seeds, getting himself ready for the right moment. 

They all may be powerful. 

But Zach was quicker. 

Theo made a big mistake, leaving them alone under his watch. 

~♡~

Malfoy Manor-

"All right, boy," Theo grabbed Draco's jacket and held it out for Paxton. "Sniff him out for me." 

Paxton buried his snout into Draco's jacket, sniffing hard all over. They waited for a moment as he got himself familiar with his scent, and then he growled, turning around and beginning to drag Theo towards the dungeons, with his snout pressed to the floorboards. 

"I don't think we should've left them all behind," Harry said, catching up with Theo's long strides. "What if he had a backup plan?" 

"They'll be fine as long as they keep an eye on his movements." Theo said, concentrating on Paxton more than Harry. "Ginny is powerful and has quick reflexes. Narcissa is just as fast, and Pansy's lethal. I doubt three women against one man is going to be impossible to overthrow." 

"This is fucking Cormac we're talking about," Blaise pointed out sarcastically, opening the door to the dungeons, and Paxton dragged them down. "He's made the entire wizarding world forget who she is; don't forget." 

"Yes, but I have no proof. If Draco is locked up or badly injured, then I need you two with me to help me out; then Harry can send a patronus to the Aurors. He is the head Auror after all; they'll be back at Nott Manor before we even get there. Cormac gets arrested, easy fucking peasy. The girls can do it; I have faith in them." He grabbed his wand and cast a lumos when they entered the dark depths of the dungeons. 

"Theo's right; the girls can handle him." Harry said, also casting a lumos, and followed behind Paxton, sniffing furiously along the ground until they came to an old cell in the corner. 

Theo pushed the door open and let Paxton off his lead as he barked and ran over to a trap door, sniffing around a pool of liquid. 

"Oh fuck," Blaise winced. "Oh, that's blood, isn't it?" 

Theo bent down to his haunches and studied it carefully. "It's still fresh," he said. "Where were you two when he was down here on his own?" He looked up at them through his lashes.

"We were upstairs checking his room and the third and fourth landings," Harry said, narrowing his eyes at the electrical buzz coming from beneath the trap door. "Draco insisted on splitting up." 

Theo rolled his eyes and waved a detection charm over the pool of blood. "It's Draco's; he's hurt." His breath hitched as Paxton began scratching at the trap door. "Down there, boy?" 

Paxton began scratching it harder, and Theo opened it to be greeted with some stone steps down below. His brows furrowed in confusion. Funny, he never once heard Draco mention there was a deeper level of the Manor. Paxton immediately went down them, and they followed him down. They next came to a door with a bright light seeping under the door. Theo opened it, when Paxton started whining desperately and scratching at it furiously. 

Theo pushed it open, dimming his lumos, and placed his hand over his eyes when they walked into what seemed to be a hospital room, with beds lined up against the walls with their names labelled up over each bed. Monitors, IV fluid bags, blood bags, and wires all over the place. 

"What the fuck?" Blaise whispered in shock as they walked around, taking it all in. 

Theo got his phone out and began taking pictures as evidence for the Aurors for them to come investigate later on. He made sure to get everything, their names, everything that his eyes landed on until they came across a muggle computer monitor by another door. A trail of blood that Paxton was sniffing led towards it. 

Theo walked over to the computer and pressed a button. A male robotic voice immediately started talking, making them jump. 

"Welcome back to the Victory Project, Zach. How can I be of service?" 

Theo pushed the button again, and it stopped the voice immediately as he slowly turned to Harry and Blaise. 

"Victory Project?" he asked. 

Blaise and Harry held the same puzzled expressions. "Did that thing just say Zach?" 

"As in Zacharias Smith?" Harry followed up on his question. 

"That measly little Hufflepuff?" Theo scoffed, turning back to face the computer, and found a USB in the side of the computer. "This is getting weirder." He grabbed the USB and went to pull it out. 

"Don't touch anything!" Blaise warned. "We don't want to compromise evidence!" 

"I'm just going to give this to the Aurors, Blaise," Theo's eyes rolled as he placed it into his pocket. "It's just a muggle USB stick with details of the user's work. It's not going to blow up anything." 

"Guys," Harry said, walking away from them to the right-hand side of them, all three of them ignoring Paxton trying to get through the next door. "Look at this," he pointed to a board. "It's us." 

Theo and Blaise came to either side of him and found thousands of pictures from ages ago. Drinking, spending time at each other's houses, going out for dinner, the burrow, everywhere they went, even the Ministry and St. Mungos. Theo, Blaise, Harry, Ron, Ginny, and the others were there. He'd been watching them for years, by the years on the dates above them. 

"He's done Hermione and Draco separately, look," Theo pointed to the second one. There were loads of them together in their house, their wedding day, their honeymoon, and what they did. Even some showed Hermione and Draco having sex through their window.

Luckily they couldn't see much, just their faces, but it was pretty obvious what they were doing. Thank Merlin. 

"Creep," Theo said in disgust. "He's been stalking us all for years, and none of us noticed!" 

"Guys, Paxton wants to go down," Blaise waved them over as Paxton kept scratching furiously at the lift door. Theo pushed the button and it opened. Paxton's nose was back on the ground, barking loudly as the door slid shut, and immediately took them down. Paxton's whines got louder as it shunted when they reached the bottom and the door swung open. 

It was dark, pitch darkness as they walked in, and Paxton disappeared into the shadows, barking loudly at something. 

Theo, Harry, and Blaise lit up their Lumos and were horrified when their eyes landed on three people caged up. 

The Obliviator, Cormac, and unconscious Draco—all three of them in glass boxes. 

"Finally!" Cormac stood, eyes wide and crazed; he looked awful. Malnourished and pale. "Please help us!" 

"Cormac?!" Harry gasped, walking over to him, taking in his appearance. "But how? What? I don't understand. 

"It was Zach!" He shouted, shooting his eyes to his left. "It's all been Zach! Harry, I swear, I had nothing to do with this. He's had me captive since the war!" 

"No, I can see that," Harry said, trying to figure out how to open his cage. "Wait, the war?" He spluttered, looking at the obliviator for a split second, who nodded to confirm his story. 

"I'll be happy to explain everything, I promise, Harry, but you need to help Malfoy." He pointed to him as Theo was trying to talk to him, but he wouldn't wake up. "He won't wake up; he's hit his head. He's been fighting to get out of here, and I think he's worn himself out." 

"How do we open these?" Blaise asked, trying to figure it out. It looked impossible; there was no door. 

"You can't," Lewis sighed, shaking his head. "We've been trying for months, and we can't get out." 

"No, there's always a way," Harry said, stepping back and thinking hard. "You two," he pointed at Cormac and Lewis. "You were obviously here when Zach put Draco in here. Was there any spell that opened it up? Anything at all?" 

"Um," Cormac chewed on his bottom lip, thinking hard. 

"Think, Cormac!" Theo shouted at him. "Did he say or do anything?!" 

"Stop yelling at me, Nott, and let me concentrate!" 

Theo glared at him as he pressed his hands against the glass, knocking on it loudly to try and wake Draco up. "Draco! Draco, wake up!" 

Draco's brows twitched at the loud bang reverberating around him. A voice called to him, over and over again. He felt lightheaded, his vision blackening at the sides as he opened his eyes and saw what appeared to be Theo sitting in front of him, his green eyes wide and his face full of panic. He tried a smile, but failed as his head rolled to the side, his vision going dark once again. 

"No, no, no. Come on, Draco! Don't fall asleep!" Theo panicked, noticing an injury on the back of his head and blood pooling around him. His skin a deathly shade of pale, and his hands battered and bruised at his side and over his stomach. "McLaggen, please! He needs help!" 

"I can't think of anything. I'm sorry." Cormac slumped his back up against the glass, and Theo ran a frustrated hand through his hair trying to wake up Draco. "But there might be something here that can help you open these. He never does anything without writing it down." 

"Then let's get looking," Harry ordered Blaise. "I'll send a quick Patronus to the Aurors. Theo, keep trying to wake him up and talk to him to keep him awake. We'll look and then see if there's any medical supplies here." 

"Hurry, Harry, he's not looking good." Theo's heart raced as Paxton kept scratching at the glass to try and get to Draco. He whimpered and whined, and Theo's heart ached at the noise of it.

Harry nodded as he sent a message to the Aurors to go straight to Nott Manor and arrest Zacharias Smith under the charms of Draco. Once that was sent off, he and Blaise ransacked the drawers in the basement, searching through everything to see if they could find a way to set them free. 

Within ten minutes of Theo failing to wake up Draco, a Patronus from Kingsley, in the shape of a bear, came bounding through the walls. 

"Zacharias Smith has taken Hermione Granger and her son. Mr's. Malfoy, Ginny Weasley, and Pansy Parkinson were found in a deep sleep, Harry. We found remnants of poppy powder, lingering in the air. Aurors have been sent out to look for them; we're on our way to Malfoy Manor with backup." 

"What did he just say?" Draco's weak voice came as the bear vaporised before them.

Theo shot his eyes down to him as Draco struggled to keep his eyes open. "Nothing, mate, just try and stay awake. Can you do that?" 

"I'm t-tired, Theo..." he mumbled, his eyes closing once again. 

Theo licked his lips, looking at Harry and Blaise just standing there in shock. "What are you waiting for?! Hurry the fuck up before he dies!" He shouted, breaking their shocked stances as they got back to work, searching through everything Zach had written down. 

Theo turned back to Draco, passed out once again. "Hold on, mate, please. Hermione needs you." He stroked Paxton's head, in his lap, feeling useless and helpless as his best friend looked on the brink of death any second. 

~♡~

Hermione-

Hermione woke up, a heavy sensation all over her as she peered her eyes open, squinting at the low rays of orange of the sunset in her vision. Her eyes focused in and found she was in her car, with her seatbelt strapped over her in the passenger seat.

When did I get here? She mentally asked herself. 

She recognised her surroundings and found herself heading towards Heathrow Airport from the sign they just passed. She shifted herself up in her seat, a dull ache at the back of her head, and looked over her shoulder to find Phoenix asleep in his car seat and Crookshanks yowling in his cage in the middle back seat. 

Her brows furrowed in confusion as she looked at the driver's seat and found Draco there, concentrating on the road with a sly smirk across his face. 

"Draco?" She croaked, and his smirk vanished as soon as she spoke. "Where are we going? What happened?" 

"Nothing do-love," he corrected quickly, placing his hand on her thigh. "You fell asleep from the relaxation of Pansy's hands. They left ages ago, so we're going to go away for a while." 

"But you said I needed to stay at Theo's?" 

"They caught him," he smiled at her. "Theo told me to get you out of here to give you a break whilst they sort out Cormac, and since you can't Portkey yet, I've gotten us three tickets out of here." 

Hermione smiled in relief that it was finally over and they could be free. "Like a holiday?" 

"Exactly," he winked, squeezing her thigh with light pressure. "Theo has all of your memories and mine, so they don't need us there. It's just going to be the four of us, out of here and away for a while." 

"Where are we going?" She placed her hand over his, lacing their fingers together. 

"It's a surprise," he lifted his lip up into a smirk as she smiled and closed her eyes, a look of relief washing over her, and turned to face the window. 

Zach put his foot down on the gas pedal heading onto the motorway towards Heathrow Airport, a blocking spell on his, Draco's, and Hermione's wand to stop anyone from tracking them down and finding them again. 

Once they were on that plane, acting like a couple of muggles going on holiday, Zach was truthfully taking them to Australia to never return again to keep them to himself once again.