The Burrow, short time later
Harry and the others had walked back in to find the siblings sitting around the table. Angelina was relieved to see they were talking in a more than just civil manner. In fact, George was in the middle of a story about himself and Fred, and the others were laughing.
“-by the time McGonagall had turned around, Fred had already lifted the charm, so she couldn’t say it was him, but whenever she looked away, he’d let loose that Flatulence Charm- loud as possible, of course- and blamed it on the mouse every time!”
“Yea, I can see Fred doing that,” Harry said with a rare grin. Harry didn’t smile much; hadn’t in a while. A quiet fell over the group as Percy looked up at Harry. Percy knew he had apologies to make to him too, after all, he had bought the lies about him being a nut, and he should have known better. Percy had known Harry personally, and he had sacrificed what little friendship they had for his ambitions. Percy stood up, but before he said anything-
“Don’t worry about it,” Harry said, traces of a smile still on his features.
“But-” Percy started to protest.
“If you’re right with your family- and I take it you are- you’re right with me.”
Percy smiled. “Thanks.” He looked about him, as if really taking in who was there.
“I’m not going to ask too many questions,” Percy said. “In fact, I’m not going to ask any. I can guess why you’re here- a meeting of some sort. So if you will kindly tell me were Rebeka can meet her grandmum, I’ll leave you to your business.” Percy picked up his daughter.
“Gran’ma!” she said excitedly. She had gotten over her shyness.
“Mum’s probably in Diagon Alley,” Ron replied. “A friend of hers owns a shop there, she spends most of her time helping out. I’ll give you the address-”
After Percy had left, everyone stood around a minute, smiling that at least one thing went right in the world. Happy endings were getting harder to believe in- it was nice to see an exception to the rule. But soon Draco and Hermione apparating into the room interrupted the content atmosphere.
“What did we miss?” Draco asked.
“Okay, each color represents a Death Eater we’ve been tracking. One dot, one sighting.” The various papers had been spread out on the table. In the middle lay a large world map, glowing with multi-colored specks of light. Remus was giving an overview of the map.
“As you can see, most of the red dots are grouped in England, and here-" Remus pointed to a far corner of the map, “New Zealand. These red dots are Lucius.”
“What was he doing in New Zealand?” George wondered aloud. “I mean, the sheep outnumber people 5 to1 there. Lucius acquired a taste for smoked lamb or something?”
“Let me show you something.” Remus waved his wand over the map. At once, all the other colored lights disappeared, leaving only the red ones. Some of the red dots dimmed, while others glowed even brighter. An eerie crimson light was now cast on the table.
“The brighter the dot, the more recent the sighting. This one on Wales-” Remus indicated. “That’s the most recent of all. Two days ago, at his old summer home. But besides that one, look where most of the latest ones are.”
“New Zealand,” Harry said.
“Exactly. We’ve thought for a long time now that Lucius was still in direct contact with Voldemort- one of few who are, I might add. And if the tip he gave means anything, they’ve met face-to-face.”
“Sounds like Lucius is Voldemort’s number one man,” Ginny spoke up.
“Yes, it does,” Remus agreed.
“So You-Know-Who is in New Zealand?” Ron asked.
“That’s what it looks like.”
Everyone was silent, thinking. Finally Draco spoke.
“New Zealand is still a large country.” Everyone looked at him. “It seems very possible that that’s where You-Know-Who is hiding. But we still don’t know where he really is. We don’t know much about New Zealand. Do we even have people stationed there?”
“A few, but you’re right, not many. Wizards only make up about 3 percent of the population. Which, if you think about it-”
“Makes it perfect for him to hide.”
“Right.”
Harry spoke up. “So to find Voldemort, I need to find Lucius.” He shook his head, still thinking. “But how do I find him?”
“I know,” Draco said. He took a deep breath. “He’s in Luxembourg.”
Ron raised his eyebrows. “How do you know?” A slight accusation was in his tone.
Draco responded with matched defense. “He had a house out there, while I was still living at home. He kept it for ‘political reasons’, or so he said. Ministry here has taken all Malfoy holdings, where else is he going to go?”
“So you don’t know for sure.”
Draco bit his lip to hold back a retort. “No, of course not. But it’s a better guess than anything else we could come up with.”
“Do you know the exact location of the house?” Harry asked.
“Yes.”
“Then let's go.”
“What now?” George asked, surprised. “Shouldn’t we have, oh, I dunno, a plan?”
Harry looked at him, his face blank. Then he said, “Draco and I are going alone, and he’s only coming to show the way.”
“What?!” More than one raised objections.
“Listen, we all know the prophecy. There’s no reason for us all to go, or anyone at all to go, besides me. We’re getting to the end, and at the risk of sounding like one of those fake heroes in cheesy novels, this is between Voldemort and me. No one else.”
Tonks said, “I don’t know why we can’t at least go find Lucius with you. You might need back up with him, at least.”
“Yeah, I wouldn’t miss a showdown between you and Lucius for the world!” George said. Actually, he wanted to see the inevitable fight between Draco and Lucius, and had secretly expressed his regret to Angelina at missing the last one. Draco suspected this, and gave a wry smile.
Right, between Harry and my dear father, he thought but didn’t say.
Harry wasn’t fooled either, but kept silent. “We still don’t all need to go.”
“Fine, but take at least three with you,” Hermione said. “There is strength in numbers.”
Harry thought a moment before nodding. “But only as far was Luxembourg. After we’re through with Lucius, I go alone.”
“Fine then,” Hermione said, already thinking up a plan. “Who shall go with you?”
“George, Draco, and Remus.”
Ron was surprised. Why not him? But Ron had known Harry long enough to know two things. One, Harry has a reason for his decisions, all he could do was trust him, and two, don’t mess with Harry when he’s in a mood. Agree now, figure out your own plan later.
“Good!” George said decisively. “Are we going now?”
“Yes,” Harry replied, turning to Remus, who had tapped him on the shoulder.
“May I talk to you a moment first? Outside?”
Harry nodded, and they walked out, leaving the others inside the house.
Outside, night had fallen. Little light shone through the shutters from within, and only the moon and the stars provided light. Harry could barely see Remus, just a shadowy form of a man.
“Are you sure you want to do this?”
“I don’t have much choice.”
“Harry-”
“It’s true, don’t tell me it isn’t.”
“But don’t you at least want to talk to-”
“Who? Nearly everyone I care about who’s still alive is in there. And frankly, I’m not big on emotional good-byes. I’ll say, ‘See ya when I get back,' they’ll say, ‘Okay, bye,’ and if any of them get deeper than that- I’ll cut them off. That’s it.”
Remus was silent a second. “You know that isn’t going to work, especially with Hermione and Ron.”
Harry snorted softly. “Yea, I know. But that’s the way I play it in my head. But my point is, what point is there to wait? I tired of waiting. I want to end it. As soon as possible.”
“I was going to suggest you talk to Neville.”
“Neville?” Harry said, confused. Neville Longbottom was a herbologist, along with his wife, living in Ireland. Though they occasionally helped the Irish branch of the Order, the two kept mostly to themselves, tending their flora and fauna.
“Yes, Neville. I’m sure you remember it is only by chance that Neville isn’t the Boy-Who-Lived.”
“Yes, I know.” Boy, did he know. “But what am I supposed to say?”
Remus remained quiet. He didn’t have to say a thing. Harry sighed.
“I’ll go to Ireland first thing in the morning. But after that, I’m gone.”
“That’s all I ask.”
The men walked back inside. The others were huddled in a circle, clearly in deep discussion. They looked up when the door creaked, ending their conversation abruptly.
“We’re leaving tomorrow morning. Meet back here, ten o’clock.” Without another word, he began to gather the papers. The others looked at Remus, surprised. Mutely, he gave his head a small shake.
“Very well then,” George said with a significant look at the others. Harry missed it, but Remus didn’t. Now it was Remus’ turn to wonder.
“Explain later,” George whispered, so Harry could not hear.
“Everyone ready?” Harry turned, papers in hand. They nodded. “I’ll take these back to Grimmauld Place. See you three-” he acknowledged George, Remus, and Draco “-tomorrow morning.” Without further ado, he disapparated.
“So, what were you talking about?” Remus asked.
Draco and Hermione’s, late that night
Draco climbed into bed, suppressing a groan as he did so. He still hurt, but he didn’t want Hermione to know. His wife, already in bed, heard anyway. She turned to face him.
“You sure you’re okay?” she asked.
“Peachy,” Draco said through gritted teeth. She smiled. Scooting closer, she put his arm around her, and nestled her head gently on his chest.
“This hurt?” Hermione asked, looking up at him. Draco smiled.
“Not at all.”
“Good.”
For a while they just lay there, comfortable with each other. After a time, Draco turned the lights out. Draco heard steady breathing in the darkness, and thought she had fallen asleep. Then Hermione spoke.
“Draco?” she said quietly. “Why didn’t you tell them sooner about Luxembourg?”
He contemplated his answer before speaking. “Well, I don’t know he’s actually there. Lucius knows I know about the house, surely he wouldn’t be that thick to really use it. For all I know, he sold it as soon as I left the family. But I also know that house is a better guess than anything else.”
Hermione did not respond.
“And,” Draco said with a sigh, “part of me didn’t want to completely sell my father out. Family loyalty and honor were pounded on my brain for twenty years, its not going to go away overnight.”
“I know.” She did. “And its okay, you told when it mattered.” She sat up on her elbow. “I hardly blame you.”
“Weasley does.”
“No he doesn’t.”
“Yes, he does. You heard him question me when I told about the house. Neither Weasley nor Potter trusts me.”
“Perhaps if you didn’t use their surnames, they might be more relaxed. After all, they call you Draco.”
“Okay, first, I call everybody by their surname. Even you were still Granger for the first six months we dated. And second, they only call me Draco because I don’t go by Malfoy anymore. In every way except legally, I have no last name. We have no last name.”
Hermione settled back down. “Fine, you’ve got me there. But they still trust you more than you give them credit.”
Draco gave her a skeptical look, though she couldn’t see it. “Right.”
“I’m serious. They may not particularly like you, but they don’t hate you, and they do trust you. Mostly.”
“How do you figure?”
“Snape.”
“Come again?”
“For the longest time, they, Ron especially, hated and mistrusted Snape. Even after Vold-”
Draco sucked in his breath.
“-emort. Why do you do that? You don’t flinch in public.”
“In front of others is one thing. In the dark privacy of my own bedroom, I can flinch.”
Sigh. “Okay. But even after he came back, Ron was still forever accusing Snape of dark activities. Not until, well, about five years ago, did they finally accept Snape as a ‘good guy.’”
“And what does that have to do with me?”
“It took them over a decade to trust Snape. It has taken considerably less time for them to accept you.”
“Only because I married their best friend. You are the only reason we tolerated each other in the beginning. And you’re still the main thing keeping us from killing each other, on occasion.”
“I know,” Hermione said, amused. “I take that to mean I have a gift of making arch enemies like each other.”
“Just don’t push it.” Draco replied, equally amused.
(A/N): Once again, not much actually happened, but too bad. Something happened, which is better than nothing at all. I had to have my slight-fluff moment with Draco and Hermione. And thanks so much to everyone who has reviewed!