Draco was laughing so hard that he had to hold the sink to stay upright.
"Stop!" he cried. "I can't take anymore."
Ron grinned at him and then went right back to hissing at the faucet on the sink.
It was the absolute worst imitation of Harry's smooth hisses that Draco had ever heard, and all the boys were practically in tears over it. Neville was physically holding Blaise up while they screamed with laughter over Ron's hissing.
"Your turn, Dray," Ron announced cheerfully when his efforts were wasted. "Really try to channel Harry, you know?"
"You're short, married to Fred, and pissed at the world," Neville said helpfully.
"Ugh, Harry could have done so much better," Draco sniffed. Harry's wedding had been elegant, of course, but Draco thought his choice of partner left much to be desired.
"Careful, mate, that's my brother you're insulting," Ron said. He shouldered Draco playfully when Draco stepped up to the faucet to take a turn. "Just pretend you're a snake, that's what I did."
Draco took a deep breath and tried to imagine himself as a snake. He was rather tall, so he imagined he'd be a long and silver snake, slim enough to slide in any crack or crevice.
When Draco opened his eyes, he focused directly on the tiny snake carved in the faucet and let out a very snake-like hiss.
Which did nothing.
"YOU'RE WORSE THAN NEVILLE!" Blaise screamed over the other boys' loud laughter. Even blasted Myrtle had floated out of her stall to laugh at Draco.
"Let me try again," Draco said with a scowl. He mentally replayed the many insults, threats, and curses that Harry loved to hiss out and tried to mimic it.
Nothing.
"We should get Harry to record himself on that muggle music contraption when we get home," Ron said. He patted Draco consolingly on the back. "Then we can get in the chamber without having to hear your nonsense."
"I was closer than you," Draco said mulishly, irritated by the entire ridiculous attempt.
"Oh yeah?" Blaise asked mockingly. "Did the sink tell you 'so close'?"
"I just know it," Draco said. He stuck his nose in the air and feigned indifference to the entire attempt. "Besides, I still say the Hidden Room is good enough."
"And I still say we should have more than one escape route," Ron said.
The four of them bickered lightly over it while they gathered their belongings and carefully made their way back up to the seventh floor.
Hogwarts wasn't the safe place that it had once been. Not that Draco had ever felt completely safe there, he did share a dorm with Harry Potter, but it was worse than ever.
The Slytherin boys had ditched their dorms on the first night when they were under the rule of a Carrow as Headmaster and a recently pardoned Crabbe as a dorm mate. Ron wanted to stay and fight Crabbe out of their dorm, but the duels left them all shaken and marked how Hogwarts was going to be.
Before Ron even had an opportunity to challenge Crabbe, Crabbe challenged a third year, Christine Lavant.
Draco had never had a conversation with the girl in his life, she was quiet enough that he didn't even know she existed.
Christine had been shaking when she accepted, and she stepped forward to face Crabbe.
Daphne Greengrass, the only seventh year prefect for Slytherin, said go and Crabbe killed her instantly.
"Mudblood scum," he'd sneered. He had his wand up and looked around at the others. "There ain't room in this castle for mudbloods or mudblood lovers."
The line had been drawn on night one, and the boys decided that it was likely better for their continued life to find a safer place to sleep. Neville had offered the Gryffindor boys dorm, but it was Blaise who thought of the Hidden Room.
What started as the four boys in the room grew slowly since the beginning of term. The Patil twins cornered Draco when one Carrow was replaced with another.
Padma had a cut across her cheek and Parvati had a residual tremble to her hands that Neville recognized at once.
"We need a place to hide until we can leave," Parvati said in a near-whimper. "Please, they'll- they'll kill us."
"Do you know what detentions are now?" Padma asked. She gestured to her face. "It's torture; right in McGonagall's old office."
The boys returned to the Hidden Room and found it had expanded itself to include a second dorm with two beds in it for the twins.
After that, Ron himself had forced the Greengrass sisters to hide out with them.
Draco had been playing cards with Neville, relaxing and relishing in the fact that they had all decided bollocks with school and merely been protecting students when they could. He thought poor Hermione would be rolling in her grave to see them when the door flew open and Ron dragged Daphne and Astoria into the room with him.
"Carrow was trying to force her," Ron pointed furiously at Astoria, "to curse her," he pointed at Daphne. "I'm bloody done with this. I don't give a damn if we have to move the entire bloody castle in here."
"The entire castle or only the traitors?" Draco drawled coldly, glaring at Daphne. It was truly unforgivable the way that she had used Ron and broken his heart, Draco had no issue with leaving her to be tortured.
"It's not like Dumbledore's around for her to run to," Ron said. He didn't even look at Daphne when he pointed toward the girls' dorm. "You'll stay here until Christmas break, then you get the hell out of the country."
"Gryffindor," Draco accused Ron when his friend sat beside him and dealt himself in the game.
"I'm not gonna let her die just because she's a twat," Ron muttered. His face was red and Draco didn't even have the heart to mock him any further, that was how serious the situation had grown.
By the time that Sirius had been named Headmaster, there were a dozen students living in the Hidden Room and blatantly skipping classes. Even with Sirius in charge, he was little more than a figurehead under the 'Minister'. And, with Argo Pyrites taking over transfiguration, none of the boys felt confident about walking around as known associates of Harry Potter.
They left the room in groups, and only when necessary.
Admittedly, trying to break into Slytherin's Chamber wasn't an absolute necessity, but as the Headmaster was the only one on patrol that night, they took their chances.
Ron used the two-way mirror Sirius gave them to call Sirius once they made it back.
"All clear," Ron told him curtly.
Draco went to his favorite sofa in what they were calling the common room to plop down on. One of the Creevey brothers – Draco didn't bother to learn their names – laid in front of the fireplace and played exploding snap with Sapphire Herron. Other than those two, the others were all in bed.
"I'm off to bed," Blaise announced. He snatched a pumpkin pastry from the table that the house-elves kept stocked for them and waved while he and Neville retired to their dorm room.
Ron finished his short conversation with Sirius and then collapsed on the sofa beside Draco. Draco immediately made himself more comfortable with his head in Ron's lap and his legs stretched out.
"Sapphire, Dennis, pack it up," Ron said with a yawn. "It's late."
"It's not like we've got class tomorrow," Sapphire scoffed. Ron fixed her with a quiet and stern look until she sighed and began picking up the game.
"Night," the Creevey boy said cheerfully once they finished.
Ron waved them off and Draco ignored them. Sapphire Herron was another person that Draco would have left to die if it was his choice, but Neville rescued her from Pyrites' office and inducted her to the group.
Admittedly, Sapphire was in rather poor shape when she arrived. Apparently, facing off with the Dark Lord didn't bode well for her. It had taken a week for her hands to stop trembling from the after effects of the cruciatus.
"You're like a dad," Draco snickered once the children were gone. "Are you going to demand they eat their vegetables next?"
Ron snorted. "You kidding, mate? The only reason I'd make them eat vegetables is so I can have their meat and potatoes."
Draco lifted his head then dropped it hard on Ron's lap, shuffling it around irritatingly.
"If you'd eat more and stress less, perhaps you'd make a better pillow," Draco informed him.
Ron flicked Draco in the center of the forehead.
"Once you lot are home, then I can relax," he said.
Draco stilled at Ron's wording and looked up at him.
"'You lot'?" Draco repeated slowly. Ron was avoiding meeting Draco's eyes and his ears were red, a sure sign that he was hiding something.
"Ron, we're all going home, right?" Draco asked him. "We agreed that it was too dangerous to stay and we'd go help the others?"
"We did say that," Ron agreed. "But, well… I can't go with you. Someone has to stay here and make sure none of the other students are being tortured."
"You absolute Gryffindor," Draco sneered.
They agreed - all four of them. They agreed that they would get as many students out as possible, possibly take them to Moon Lodge if needed, and then refuse to return to the school.
Draco thought he only had two more nights spent worrying about one of his friends dying in the castle and Ron had been planning to abandon them all and stay to play hero.
"You - moronic- impulsive - idiotic- GRYFFINDOR!" Draco sat up and punched Ron in the arm as hard as he could with each word. "WE ARE SUPPOSED TO GO HOME!"
Home, to Draco's parents and Ron's mother.
Home, to their friends who could use them in the war.
Home, to Luna.
Draco wanted to go home.
"You still can!" Ron cried. He snatched a pillow to hold as a shield against Draco's blows. "I don't need anyone else to stay. Just - just try to send me the map, okay?"
Draco smacked Ron on the side of his head with his open hand and glared daggers at him with his eyes.
"You expect me to go home while you're here alone?" Draco demanded. He ripped the pillow from Ron's hands and slammed it on his lap before laying right back down on Ron. "Idiot. I am surrounded by idiots. You know I hate you, right?"
"You love meeee," Ron said mockingly. He rested his hand on Draco's hair, and Draco glared at him until he chuckled and began combing the locks gently.
"Dray, go home," Ron said quietly. "I'm not playing hero and I'll be home as soon as I can. But I can't leave the others here."
"If you mean girl Weasley, then drag her home by her skanky red hair," Draco snapped. He refused to feel guilty at the way Ron's face fell.
It wasn't a secret that Ron had tried to bring Ginevra to their group multiple times and failed every time.
Ginevra refused to 'hide out' and couldn't see that the boys were making more progress from the shadows than she was with her defiance and demands to know where the muggleborn students were. Draco suspected she only cared for Dean Thomas, a seventh year who was conspicuously absent along with most of the other muggleborns on the first day of term.
If the girl had any common sense at all, she would shut her mouth. The boys had been lucky to get the Creevey brothers before they became another example of the new order in Hogwarts.
"It's more than just Ginny," Ron insisted. "Anyone with family out there is at risk. I don't reckon Maria Edgecomb went on holiday last Hogsmeade weekend, do you?"
Draco sighed and closed his eyes. As much as it pained him to admit it, Ron was right. It seemed as if the other new order at Hogwarts was to take the children of Ministry employees who must have vexed the Minister in some way.
"No, I don't suppose she did," Draco agreed. "Fine, we stay here. But if Luna cries when I don't return, I will tell her it's your fault."
"No, you've gotta go home," Ron said immediately. He tried using his 'very firm dad voice' on Draco, but Draco was immune to it. "You're a double whammy mate, son of traitors and a known part of Harry's gang?" Ron clicked his tongue. "It's not safe."
"Your father was killed under Dumbledore's orders, your family are all blood-traitors, and your brother is married to Harry Potter." Draco raised a condescending brow at Ron. "Tell me how you're safer than I am."
"You're leaving," Ron said, scowling as well. "I'm serious, Dray. It'll be easier if I know you're with Harry."
"If you're staying, I'm staying," Draco said stubbornly. "I can't let you get all the glory. I'd like an Order of Merlin too."
And Draco could hardly be of use to anyone if he spent all his time worrying that Ron had gotten himself killed.
"Sure, Dray," Ron said with a faint grin. "I'm sleeping out here, I think Blaise has Padma in his bed. You staying?"
"Obviously," Draco drawled. "I'm already comfortable."
Ron chuckled and kicked his feet up on the coffee table before lazily summoning two blankets for them each.
"I wonder what Harry's doing," Ron murmured while Draco tried to drift off to sleep. Draco shifted on his side and sighed heavily.
"Something utterly mad, I'm certain."
"Yeah, you're right."
More importantly, Draco wondered what Luna was doing. Sirius managed to slip the house-elves a copy of the Quibbler 2.0 the week before and it was delivered with their breakfast the next morning. Everyone had thought it was so brilliant, so hilarious, so informative.
Draco thought it was terrifying. If Luna had been venturing out of Harry's house to get photos and find information on the Dark Lord then she was placing herself in danger. And Draco couldn't live if he lost Luna. It was torture being separated from her, unable to so much as exchange letters anymore.
'For their safety' all incoming and outgoing letters were monitored by ministry employees ever since the Carrow woman had been found dead in the Headmaster's office.
Luna did manage to sneak a coded message in her paper for Draco and Draco had carried it with him since reading it.
While many think that Dragons are a feared and dangerous beast- I'm quite fond of them. If I could have a dragon with me, the wrackspurts in my chest would disappear and the nargles would sing songs of joy. Some witches may wait for their prince to arrive, but I've only ever needed a dragon.
There was a small drawing on either side of the quip - the dragon and moon tattoo that Luna had on her ankle was drawn on one side, while Draco's stars and flowers were on the other.
It was the only proof of Luna's safety and continued love for Draco that Draco had. And, if Draco wouldn't be returning home with the others, it would have to be enough to see him to the end.
Since Draco and Ron slept in the common room, Blaise and Neville were tasked with the morning rounds.
It was the same routine they followed every morning-
At least two of them would go to Pyrites' office and check it for students. They used to check it at night, but there were typically students being forced to torture their classmates late at night. It was simpler to check it an hour before breakfast, when nobody would be there.
After they rescued whatever unfortunate bastard was locked in chains – a sight that diminished some when Sirius took over as Headmaster – they checked the potions classroom for potions left out by Slughorn.
Slughorn didn't tell them that he was leaving the potions out for their use, but every morning there were a few freshly brewed potions for pain and other ailments that the tortured students typically required.
It wasn't a difficult routine, but one rather fraught with danger if they were caught.
Blaise and Neville returned just as Draco had rolled off the sofa to the sound of the others having breakfast in the dining hall portion of the room.
The Hidden Room truly was too brilliant to be designed by anyone apart from Rowena Ravenclaw herself. Whoever opened the room, in their case it had been Ron, merely had to think of what they needed and the room would adjust accordingly.
The only flaw the room had was it was unable to create food and potions, but it was able to create a tunnel to the kitchens so they remained well-stocked.
"No victims today," Blaise said airily when they returned. Both boys had one of Hermione's galleons in their hands, emergency ways to communicate in case they were captured by Pyrite.
Even if Hermione was surely calling them all lazy for dropping all classes, she would likely be pleased that they were continuing to use her communication coins.
"Good, just one more check tomorrow then," Ron said cheerfully. He sat at the head of the table covered in breakfast dishes and waved his fork around. "Let's eat! Everyone needs to pack their stuff today, we'll figure out shifts to get to the dorms after breakfast."
"Any new garbage from the Gryffindors?" Draco asked. The Gryffindor students at the table huffed at him, but it wasn't Draco's fault that the others were giving them an even worse name.
Between Ginevra's dramatic monologues at meal times and the graffiti that painted the walls announcing 'Order of Phoenix Forever', Draco was thoroughly sick of the lions. They weren't being useful in any way, they merely pulled little stunts to try and appear useful.
Much like the actual Order that had disappeared once their leader died.
Useless cowards.
"Mm, there was a rather amusing drawing of a death eater with a sword through its neck," Blaise said.
"I think it was Alecto since it had an eyepatch on," Neville added. "Might have been a Slytherin that did it this time though, it was down in the dungeons."
"Or a Gryffindor trying to blame a Slytherin," Ron said thoughtfully.
Draco scoffed. "Only a Gryfferin like you would think those other morons could strategize something like that."
"A Gryfferin?" Daphne asked. She didn't speak often and Draco had genuinely forgotten that she even existed. But there she was, sitting at the table, looking right at Draco.
"Ron is either a Gryffindor who snuck in Slytherin or a Slytherin with the heart of a Gryffindor," Neville explained since Draco wasn't speaking to heartbreaking-twits such as Daphne Greengrass. "So Draco calls him a Gryfferin."
"I like Slytherdor more," Astoria piped up. She smiled brightly at Ron and Draco swore he saw her eyelashes flutter. "You make a wonderful Slytherdor."
"And Astoria makes a crap flirt," Neville whispered to Draco. The two of them politely hid their laughter, though Draco only liked Astoria a smidge above Daphne.
Astoria had been interested in Trent. And, unlike Sapphire, she didn't seem inclined to eternally mourn him.
Trent deserved to be eternally mourned, brilliant mad child that he was.
Sapphire had added a streak of green to her hair, the dark green of Slytherin house, and told Parvati who told Padma who told Blaise who told Draco that it was for Trent until she could go get a tattoo for him instead.
Even though Draco had no interest in ever having another tattoo in his life - they hurt - that was the type of sentiment that Draco thought Trent deserved.
Through the rest of their meal, Draco and Ron began making plans of which students needed to go to which dorms.
The boys all had their belongings already, as they never stayed in their dorm.
Sapphire, Parvati, Dennis, and Colin would need taken to the Gryffindor Tower.
Daphne and Astoria would need in the Slytherin rooms.
Justin needed in the Hufflepuff rooms.
Padma would need in the Ravenclaw Tower.
"We're closest to the Gryffindor Tower but that'll be the biggest group…" Ron tapped the table absently while he thought it over. "Alright, what if Neville and I take that group after breakfast and get in and out before first hour ends?"
"Blaise and I can take the Slytherins down to the dungeons at the same time," Draco said. "As long as Justin and Padma stay here, the room will stay open."
"Right…" Ron looked around at the others and squinted his eyes at Justin. "If you lot make it back before us, then go ahead and take Padma to her rooms if you've got time. You've been in the Ravenclaw Tower before." Ron lowered his voice to a whisper for only Draco to hear. "I don't trust Justin, so me and Nev will take him."
That suited Draco perfectly well because he didn't care for Justin Finch-Fletchey one but. Not because he was muggleborn, but because the absolute oaf refused to let Draco and Blaise remove him from the actual chains he had been in when they found him.
"YOU'LL KILL ME! YOU WORK FOR HIM!" Justin had shrieked.
Draco rolled up his left sleeve and sneered at Justin. "Do we look like Death Eaters you abominable moron?"
"Not You-Know-Who, POTTER!"
Draco had been content to leave him there after that but Blaise insisted they rescue him anyway.
"Fine," Draco agreed with Ron's plan. "I'm going to shower, don't leave until I'm finished."
Draco politely stacked his dirty dishes in the bin they had beside the table. It was out of simple courtesy for the elves who worked in the kitchen. They were doing them a huge service by bringing meals to their room, the least they could do was clean up after themselves.
Some of the new arrivals had been confused by that order, but Draco supposed not everyone had been rescued from a dungeon by house-elves and thus didn't have the proper respect for them.
The Hidden Room provided three dorms for them currently to use- Draco, Ron, Blaise, and Neville shared one and Draco firmly refused to allow any of the others to sleep in their room. The last Draco knew, the Creevey brothers, Justin, and Sapphire had all taken a room to share while the Greengrass and Patil sisters were in their own room.
It made it simpler for Draco to find clothes if he had more than one wardrobe to choose from. Since they would be wandering about the castle that day, packing trunks for the students returning home, Draco borrowed Ron's jumper to wear.
It was the knitted one he received last Christmas and had surely outgrown anyway. Draco rather liked the sweaters that Molly Weasley made them every year, and had been quite envious of that one of Ron's in particular. Molly had knitted him a dark green one with an intricate and detailed silver snake on the front.
Ron said it was his mother accepting him as the only Slytherin in the family, but Draco merely liked the snake.
Draco took his time in the shower, allowing himself the privacy to punch the tiled wall until his knuckles split and his blood and tears went down the drain. It was all so unfair. All Draco had wanted to do was go home, that was it. And then Ronald put Draco in the position to have to decide between going home to his family or staying to help students that Draco didn't know and didn't like.
If it was Neville staying behind, or even Blaise, Draco might not bother. Then he could stay with Ron and go be of actual use in the war along with his parents and Luna.
But Draco couldn't leave Ron behind, not when the ginger prat had a target the same size as his complex on his back.
Draco healed his knuckles with a tap of his wand when he got out of the shower before drying his hair with another tap.
"Ugh." Draco grimaced at his swollen eyes in the mirror. The entire point of crying in the shower was that the heat was meant to diminish the residual puffiness.
Mother taught him that.
Draco did his best to take his time shaving and brushing his teeth, hoping that he would look less swollen the longer he took. By the time he was ready to face the others, he nearly looked normal.
In fact, he looked rather handsome. Ron's jumper suited Draco and his fair features much better than it did Ron and all his… Ron-ness.
Draco had his wand strapped to his forearm, his knife in one pocket, his coin in the other, and was prepared to go assist the others.
"This would be much easier if we had Harry's map," Blaise whispered as he led the way to the dungeons. Blaise knew almost as many secret tunnels and shortcuts as Harry did, a side-effect of shagging half the castle, Draco assumed.
"You need to tell Harry to give it to Lupin and have Lupin send it to Sirius," Draco murmured back unthinkingly.
Blaise slowed for a moment and looked over his shoulder at Draco.
"Pardon? Draco, that makes it sound as if you'll still be here to require the map," Blaise said. "Which is nonsense, yes?"
Draco scowled at Blaise and shook his head.
"We'll talk later," he said with a significant look toward Daphne.
Daphne rolled her eyes, but once a traitor- always a traitor.
Blaise let the subject drop for the moment, more invested in getting in and out of the Slytherin rooms safely than getting gossip. They only encountered a single ghost on their trek, but it was only the Baron.
Draco had never heard the Baron speak his entire time at Hogwarts, but he heard him then as he floated past them.
"Filch is on the third floor," he whispered in a truly chilling tone. "I will keep him there for twenty more minutes. Your password is mudblood."
"Filch?!" Draco hissed to Blaise as their group picked up speed and began running to the dungeons. "They're torturing muggleborns but the squib gets to keep his job?!"
"You're talking about the same bloke that decided to crash Harry's wedding after the vows," Blaise said. "The new world order is chaos, Draco."
Draco huffed. Chaos was fine for people like Harry who thrived on it, but he expected more from a supposedly once-brilliant and powerful Dark Lord who made himself the Minister of Magic.
When they made it to the entrance of the Slytherin rooms, it was Astoria who had to say the password to open the door.
Draco and Blaise would certainly never use the word again. Not after… not after Hermione and Trent.
Draco could never say the word again.
"Blaise and Daphne go in, get the trunks, Astoria and I will stay out here on guard," Draco said. "Keep your coin in hand, I'll alert you if we hear anyone coming."
"Bossy," Blaise winked before doing as Draco said.
Astoria looked up at Draco with wide blue eyes after the other two went in the common room.
"I don't think you're bossy," she said. "I think you and your friends are terribly brave."
Draco scoffed. "This isn't bravery, this is survival. Bravery is- is shooting You-Know-Who with a gun."
Trent was brave.
Harry was brave.
Draco was merely trying to survive to see the end of the war.
"It's too late," Astoria sniffed. She stuck her nose in the air and tossed her blonde hair over her shoulder. "I think you're brave and you can't change my mind."
"If someone attacks me, I will use you as a shield," Draco drawled. "You'll change your mind then. Now shut up, you'll bring Peeves down on us."
Astoria huffed and crossed her arms, but Draco was well-adept at ignoring her by then.
The hairs on the back of Draco's neck were standing up and he felt terribly anxious suddenly. There were no footsteps to be heard, no ghosts floating through walls, but Draco could feel himself tensing up.
If Luna was there, Draco imagined she would warn him about something from the nargles.
"You can buy new clothes," Draco decided abruptly. He went to pull his coin from his pocket to tell Blaise to forget it, no belonging was worth the sudden unshakable fear Draco had, and then the coin burned in his hand.
All the numerals on the edge of the coin were nine's, the emergency code to return immediately.
Draco's stomach twisted in a knot - the last time they used that code was when there had been a raid on the castle and a muggleborn boy was arrested during dinner under suspicion of 'stealing magic'.
"We need to go, now." Draco grabbed Astoria's wrist and began yanking her along as he ran full speed back to the Hidden Room.
"Daphne!" Astoria shrieked. "I can't leave Daphne!!"
Draco heard more footsteps following them and then Daphne's shout-
"I'm coming!"
Draco spared a quick look over his shoulder and saw that Blaise was running behind him. Blaise's face was set in the same grave expression as Draco's must have been.
Nine never meant anything good.
The gang started with nine members - Harry, Draco, Ron, Blaise, Neville, Theo, Hermione, Susan, and Luna.
They were down to eight.
Ron's family had nine members - Ron, his mother, his father, Bill, Charlie, Percy, Fred, George, and Ginny.
They were also down to eight. Seven and a half, actually, as Sirius told Ron that George had been paralyzed when they blew up Azkaban.
Those were the only examples Draco truly had, but it was enough for him to think it was a jinxed number anyway.
The four of them made it to the Hidden Room and Draco had his wand in hand, prepared to fight or flee, when he came face to face with Ron.
"What's happened?" Blaise asked, his wand also drawn. "Ron?"
Ron had the mirror he used to keep in contact with the Headmaster at his side and Draco had never seen him look so pale.
"Sirius got a message from a contact inside the Ministry, the Minister is coming to Hogwarts with a list of students wanted for 'questioning'."
"And?" Draco asked, sensing Ron was holding something back.
Ron swallowed hard and looked up from the floor, his blue eyes connecting directly with Draco's.
"And we're all on it," Ron said bleakly. "Every one of us in this room, plus a couple others, are on it."
The room went cold as it sunk in-
They were all marked for arrest. They would be tortured. They would be drained of any useful information. And then they would be killed.
It was a death list and they were all on it.
Neville made a pitiful sound and sank to the floor with his head in his hands while Draco continued staring at Ron in complete horror.
"He's sure?" Draco asked.
Ron nodded. "Sirius swears his contact is on our side. The list was made last night and his contact saw it this morning."
"They were going to take us before we made it home," Sapphire breathed. She was crouched down beside Neville, rubbing his back absently while she stared up at the boys. "Merlin damned COWARDS!"
"Shut up," Draco snapped at her. He broke eye contact with Ron and curled his lip at Sapphire and Neville both. "We aren't dead yet, Neville, quit the dramatics."
Neville laughed semi-hysterically and looked up at Draco with wild eyes.
"D'you think I give a damn about dying?" he asked. "I never thought I'd even make it this far! But if they're taking kids of people who piss them off, what do you think is next?"
"Taking parents," Blaise said. Draco didn't have to look at him to sense his relief.
Blaise's mother was undoubtedly safe, damned powerful witch that she was.
Draco's parents were… safe enough… with Harry.
Ron's father was dead, his mother in hiding.
"Where's your grandmother?" Draco asked Neville, trying to be kind. "Perhaps we can have Sirius get a message to her? Have her hide with Ron's mother?"
Neville shook his head and then buried his hands in his hair again as he pulled hard enough to make Draco wince.
"Gran'll be fine, she's a tough old bird, but my parents? They're- they're sitting ducks," Neville moaned. "If he can't find me, he'll torture them."
Draco opened his mouth to ask why that mattered - they were already essentially dead husks, no more connected to life than victims of the Dementors Kiss - but Ron stomped hard on his foot.
"We'll figure that out later," Ron said firmly. "We need to decide what we're doing now. We need to get people out, get them to that place in Scotland."
Moon Lodge.
Draco looked around the group of whimpering and worthless classmates.
"How?" Draco asked bluntly. "The floo's are monitored, the gate is closed, and Hogsmeade is crawling with dementors and death eaters alike."
"I know, I just need…" Ron trailed off and then abruptly turned to the side and struck out at the wall, causing the smaller Creevey to let out a yelp.
"God damnit," Ron growled. He punched the wall again while Draco and Blaise exchanged looks.
"I'm sure that's incredibly helpful," Draco drawled. As if he hadn't done the same thing in utter frustration just hours ago. "If you're finished though, perhaps we can plan?"
Ron's shoulders slumped and he turned back around and he didn't look like the confident leader of their group anymore. Ron looked like a seventeen year old boy with far too many lives on his shoulders.
In other words, he looked too much like Harry and it was unacceptable.
"Who else is on that list?" Draco asked, deciding to take charge. "Ron, speak."
"Ginny," Ron said in a hollow voice. "Blakely Ritters—"
"The first year?" Daphne asked. "She's a little Hufflepuff girl! What could she have done??"
Draco glanced toward Blaise and kept mum. It wasn't what little Blakely did, but likely what her relative Blue did. But as Daphne was not a part of the gang, Draco didn't explain.
"Dunno, but there's also a Mattox Danvers on there too," Ron said.
"His father is an Unspeakable," Neville said. He was still sitting on the floor, but at least he was being helpful again. "Mattox is in Ravenclaw."
"What year?" Draco asked him.
"Sixth. He's- he's dead useful with plants."
"Irrelevant," Draco scoffed. "So one sixth year Gryffindor, one sixth year Ravenclaw, and a first year Hufflepuff? Ron, call Sirius, ask where they are during…" Draco checked the time and grimaced. "Second hour."
"Ginny's in charms," one of the Creevey boys, the older one, piped up with. "I don't remember if Mattox took charms for a NEWT or not though…"
"And Blakely should be in potions," Justin said. "It's Friday, right? Yeah, potions with Slughorn then."
"Sirius isn't answering," Ron said after trying to call for Sirius in the mirror a few times. He sighed and rubbed his eyes. "Alright, if we can get everyone else in here, we can figure out an escape plan after."
"Why can't we just stay here until it's safe?" Padma asked. "Nobody else can get in, right?"
"They can if they know the room is here and know what to ask for," Ron said cryptically.
It had taken the boys a couple of days of testing to establish the perfect request for the room. When they asked for a place to hide, they were presented with a room of junk. When they asked for a new dorm, it was too easy for others to gain entrance.
Asking for a headquarters for the Hogwarts Defense Club was how they established their quarters. They had only tested it a few times, but it was difficult to gain access to the room as long as one person remained behind.
Not impossible, but simply difficult.
And with twelve of them - plus the three that needed retrieved - counting on the room for safety, 'difficult' was not good enough.
"Did Sirius know how long we have?" Draco asked.
Ron shook his head. "The Minister," he sneered the title, "could already be here for all we know."
"Merlin, let's hope not," Blaise muttered. He clapped his hands together and looked at each of the other boys. "Three students, two locations. How do you gents want to do this?"
"Draco and I will go get Ginny and Mattox," Ron said immediately. "Blaise should go get Blakely, Neville should stay here."
"I'll go with Draco," Daphne offered suddenly. She squeezed Astoria's hand then let it go. "It would be better to keep you and Neville both here, just in case."
Daphne was only worrying about her sister, Draco was certain. But so was Ron.
"Yeah, I'd trust you to get my sister," Ron snapped at her.
Daphne narrowed her eyes and stepped up close to Ron, staring him down harshly.
"You have protected my sister for months," she said coolly. "It will cost me nothing to go protect yours."
"Yeah, you're all about paying back debts, aren't you?" Draco jeered.
Daphne flushed at the reminder, but didn't look away from Ron.
"I owe you a great deal more than this, but I would prefer if you stayed with Astoria and allow me to go get Ginny."
Ron looked at Daphne for a long moment before he jerked his chin in a curt nod.
"Fine. You go with Draco. But Daphne, if my sister doesn't make it back here in one piece then I'll kill yours."
Draco let out a delighted cackle at Ron's very Harry-like threat. He would never follow through, but it was wonderful to hear all the same.
Astoria didn't even look phased by the threat, the stupid girl was twirling her wand and staring at Ron with worship in her eyes.
"Wonderful, I'll take… Padma," Blaise said, getting them back on track. He smiled charmingly at the Patil girl. "Shall we go save an innocent Puff together?"
"We shall," Padma said with a smile.
How Blaise could take a life or death rescue mission and use it to flirt was beyond Draco's comprehension.
Smooth bastard.
"C'mere," Ron said, pulling Draco and Blaise close. "Listen," he whispered, "I've got to change the room to get the one where Harry hid his guns. It might not be worth much, but I'd feel better if this lot had something more than a wand to hold."
Draco glanced over Ron's shoulder at the pathetic group they had assembled and agreed wholeheartedly. Magic took power and intellect, any moron could pull a trigger.
"I'll try and get in and out before you get back, but if headquarters doesn't work, ask for the room where things are hidden, alright?" Ron clapped Blaise on the shoulder and then held his arm out, holding Draco back.
"Dray… I should trade you," Ron said slowly. "I- I trust you with my life, but…"
"But not your sister's life?" Draco asked. He rolled his eyes when Ron didn't refute the claim. "Personally, I wouldn't care if she died or not, she's an annoying twit. But I am a bit fond of you, so I suppose I'll fetch her. Besides," Draco scrunched his nose when he looked at the others, the young children that irritated him, "it's best you stay with them. They listen to you and if anyone gets in here…"
They would all be dead.
But if anyone could save at least one of the students, it would be Ron. And with Neville alongside him? Then perhaps they could save two.
"Be careful then, mate," Ron said solemnly. "And if- if anything happens while you're gone—"
"You will get your arse out of here," Draco told him heatedly. "Try and remember that you are a Slytherin and don't let any Gryffindor dramatics get you killed."
"Yeah," Ron smiled faintly and then pulled Draco in for a mortifying hug. "Thanks, Draco. I'll see you soon."
"You better," Draco warned him. He pulled away from Ron and turned to Daphne. "Come on, Greengrass, let's go play fetch."
The castle was cold and quiet when Draco and Daphne slipped from the room. It wasn't the home it once was and Draco didn't know if it would ever feel like home again.
One day Draco planned to return-
Draco would teach Care of Magical Creatures, Luna would teach Potions. They would clear the forest out of the dangerous creatures that had no business being near a school full of children and convert it to their own animal sanctuary.
They would raise their children there and laugh every time someone asked for Professor Malfoy and they both responded.
Luna would probably allow the students to call her Professor Luna though. Draco certainly wouldn't, he planned on being as respected as Professor Snape had always been.
Perhaps Luna could be Head of Ravenclaw while Draco took over Slytherin… they could place bets on their quidditch matches and banter playfully over which house would win the House Cup at the end of the year.
That would be when Hogwarts would be home again.
It wasn't until the two of them crept down the charms corridor and hid behind a tapestry that Draco realized their biggest problem.
"How do we get them from class?" Daphne breathed to Draco, realizing the same issue he just had. "It's not as if we want to announce ourselves."
Not particularly, no. Especially not as they had been invisible guests of the castle since retreating to the Hidden Room.
"I don't see any way around it," Draco murmured. "Stay here."
Draco raised his chin and squared his shoulders, making himself seem tall and confident as he stepped up to Flitwick's classroom door and knocked smartly. He didn't wait for a response before opening the door and taking a half-step inside.
Flitwick didn't seem particularly surprised to see Draco, though there were a few students who gaped like exceptionally unattractive fish at him.
"The Headmaster needs Weasley and Danvers, sir," Draco said with as much pomp was he could. Draco didn't blink or break eye contact with Flitwick as he remained as outwardly bored and self-assured as any other student being sent to fetch a classmate.
"I see," Flitwick said after a long moment. "And did the Headmaster say anything else?"
Draco hesitated. Flitwick was on their side - or the side of people who didn't want the Dark Lord to win the war, anyway - but Draco wasn't as adept at passing on coded messages as others were.
"He didn't," Draco said slowly. He tried to stress his words with only eye contact when he added, "I believe he is preparing for an important guest."
Flitwick didn't so much as nod, but Draco got the impression that he understood the message all the same.
"Very well, take Miss Weasley and go quickly," Flitwick said. "Danvers is in the Hospital Wing though. Where shall I tell Poppy to send him?"
"Nowhere, sir," Draco said. "We'll grab him on our way."
Flitwick didn't bother to comment on the fact that the Hospital Wing was on the opposite side of the castle, hardly 'on their way' if their route was to the Headmaster's office.
"Miss Weasley? Up you get," Flitwick told girl Weasley. "Quickly now, leave your bag."
Draco could see why Flitwick was the Head of Ravenclaw, he was rather intelligent.
Girl Weasley was not.
Weasley held her wand right in her hand and glared at Draco distrustfully as she followed him in the corridor. As soon as the door shut behind Draco, Draco felt the warmth of a ward take hold of it.
"What do you want?" Weasley asked immediately. "Sirius didn't call for me, did he?"
"World peace and not quite," Draco said as sarcastically as he could. He waved Daphne from behind the tapestry and filled her in quickly on Danvers location.
"I'll take Ginny to Ron and you go get Danvers," Daphne decided immediately.
Draco curled his lip at her. "I will take Weasley to Ron. You go get Danvers."
"Where is Ron?" Weasley asked. "Is he okay? What's happening?"
"I'll fill you in later," Draco said. He truly didn't have the patience. "But Ron is waiting for you."
"Why should I trust you?" Weasley asked Draco. "You could be leading me in a trap."
"Oh, yes, because with the Dark Lord and his followers running our government, it's trapping one stupid girl that I'm concerned with," Draco hissed. "Use the single brain cell you were born with and think, Weasley."
As much as Draco despised girl Weasley, he did soften just a centimeter at her next question.
"Ron's okay though?" she asked. "He's safe?"
"He is," Draco said. "Come quickly and quietly and you'll see him in just a few minutes. Greengrass, go, quickly."
Daphne nodded and then turned and took off down the corridor in the opposite direction in a sprint.
"Let's go," Draco told Weasley. "Keep quiet, we don't want seen or heard."
Weasley finally put her brain cell to use and kept her mouth shut as she kept stride with Draco. He stuck to the walls, quick to duck behind suits of armor and tapestries at the slightest noise.
If Draco had Harry's damned map then it would be a much simpler task. As it was, Draco felt positively ill on the trip back. Every worst case scenario played through his mind…
The Dark Lord himself could have blasted through through the wall on the seventh floor, possibly killing all the students inside.
A group of Death Eaters could have forced their way inside and killed Ron in a duel.
Neville could have been a spy the entire time and stabbed Ron in the back the instant Draco left.
No… probably not that. Neville was too honorable to stab Ron in the back, he would do it in the chest.
None of Draco's worst imaginings involved skidding in the corridor that had the entrance to the Hidden Room and finding it already occupied.
Draco had never been creative enough to imagine himself in such a scenario.
"Run," Draco hissed to Weasley.
The sole occupant of the corridor leaned against the wall in rich black robes and twirled a bone colored wand between long and pale fingers.
The Minister of Magic looked at Draco as if he had been expecting him. There was a trace of amusement in his eyes and something that looked like victory.
Draco flicked his wand in his hand and couldn't look away from the copper colored eyes that watched him with blatant amusement. If they both ran, those eyes said they would both die.
Draco felt like prey beneath a predator in that moment and all that mattered was that Ron's sister made it back to him.
Ron lost his father already, he couldn't bear to lose girl Weasley, no matter how annoying Draco found her to be.
"Don't make your brother mourn you," Draco whispered once more from the corner of his mouth. "Run, now."
For the first time in her foolish life, Weasley seemed to show the small ounce of self-preservation that once placed her in Slytherin because she began sprinting full speed away from the confrontation.
"A cowardly lion? What has the world came to?" The Minister mused softly while he continued to watch Draco. "You're not going to run, Draco? You're not going to make me catch you as I will her?"
"I'm not afraid of you," Draco said. He pulled himself tall and clutched his wand tightly as the only hope he had. Draco sneered in the face of the Minister of Magic, the Dark Lord. "It's hard to be afraid of the coward that killed a thirteen year old."
The Minister's lips curled in a mocking smile.
"You're Lucius' son, aren't you?" he asked with a voice as soft and sweet as honey. "And here I was under the impression that you were a Slytherin."
"TRENT BAILEY WAS A SLYTHERIN AND YOU KILLED HIM!" Draco shouted. His hands were shaking, but not with fear- with fury.
The Minister's laugh was cold and Draco knew it was meant to belittle him, but Draco would not become small to suit anyone's need.
"You're a pureblood, Draco," the Minister said. His wand was in his hand in an instant, twirling between his fingers. "You don't need to follow your father, I will kill him in the end, you know. Join me, Draco."
Draco threw the first curse, a silent crucio that poured out willingly in his furious state.
"I'll join you when hell freezes over," Draco sneered. He slashed his wand again, following the first curse with another that the Minister easily blocked. "And everyone knows you're a half-blood at best, Timmy."
Draco knew death was coming before he even saw the green light. And in the end - protecting Ron's sister, calling for justice for Trent, getting to call Voldemort Timmy to his face?
Draco embraced it.
Draco saw his mother, holding him when he was sick, singing soft lullabies in French.
"Au clair de la lune, mon ami Pierrot, Prête-moi ta plume, pour écrire un mot. Ma chandelle est morte,
je n'ai plus de feu. Ouvre-moi ta porte, pour l'amour de Dieu.
"I love you, little dragon."
Draco saw his father, teaching him to fly.
"Hold on here and don't be scared, Draco," Father said. His voice was firm, but there was a warmth in his eyes just for Draco. "I would never let you fall."
Draco's lower lip quivered, but he was quick to bite down on it.
Malfoy's didn't show fear.
"And GO!"
Draco saw his first train ride, squashed in a compartment with people that he didn't know would become his closest friends.
"I'm Malfoy, Draco Malfoy."
Draco saw the first time he saw Luna, at breakfast on Halloween in his second year.
She waltzed up to the Slytherin table with chrysanthemums braided in her hair and her eyes sparkling prettily. She chatted with Harry and invited him to a party, one that Draco was not invited to, and Draco asked about her when she walked away.
"Who... in Merlin's name... was that?" Draco asked slowly. "She's so—"
"Her name is Luna and she's brilliant," Harry interrupted Draco with a sneer. "And if you say one bloody word about her I'll make cutting you open an annual tradition."
Draco shook his head quickly before Harry could get the wrong idea.
"I- I was going to say she's different but I like her. She's a Ravenclaw right? So she must be smart."
"Right," Ron said. "I'm sure that's what you were going to say."
It wasn't what Draco wanted to say, but he couldn't tell his friends that he thought she looked like an angel. Not if he didn't want teased by Ron and Blaise for an eternity.
Draco saw himself in the chamber with Ron, the two of them preparing to attack Lockhart. He saw them later, moving boulders together to try and get to Harry and Ron's sister.
Ron had been ghastly pale and Draco merely didn't want him to faint.
"Ten sickles says I can move more rocks than you in the next five minutes," Draco told him.
Ron glanced over at him and a small competitive spark lit up in his eyes.
"You're on, mate."
Draco saw himself in Harry's hospital room the next year, witnessing Susan have a spectacular screaming match with Fred Weasley.
"WHAT ARE YOU EVEN DOING HERE?!" Susan shoved Fred in the chest hard. "YOU THINK ONE DATE MAKES YOU HARRY'S FRIEND?!"
"Two galleons says she kills him," Ron whispered to Draco.
Draco sized up the way that Susan looked prepared to do just that and wondered if anyone would ever love Draco as much as Susan loved Harry.
"No bet," Draco said. "Susan's just been waiting for a chance to kill someone for Harry."
It was Ron who must have heard the flat affect to Draco's tone that time because he casually scooted his chair closer to him and tossed a friendly arm over Draco's shoulders.
"If you're ever in the hospital and someone you went on one date with shows up, I'll kill them," Ron offered.
"Swear?" Draco asked.
"Swear."
Draco saw himself at the Yule Ball, dancing with the most beautiful angel he had ever seen.
"You look lovely," Draco told Luna as she spun gracefully in his arms.
Luna smiled at Draco so dazzlingly that he was momentarily blinded.
"And you look very handsome," she said sweetly. "I'm happy you asked me to come. I thought… Susan, maybe…"
Draco frowned at the vulnerable noise in Luna's trailed off question and he pulled her close for just a moment.
"Who could look at Susan when you're around?" Draco murmured.
Luna beamed at him and tilted her chin up, just a little, but Draco had chickened out.
Draco saw the summer he spent in Italy with Blaise and their mothers. He saw himself lying on a lounger beside the pool, attempting to tan himself even a few shades darker than he was naturally.
"You'll burn, darling," Mother said. She had an umbrella over herself and large sunglasses covering half of her face. "We're fair-skinned people, Draco. Don't try and mimic Blaise, accept your own beauty."
Draco saw himself on the quidditch team in his fifth year, flying with his friends and making team strategies late in the night with Ron and Trent.
Draco saw Luna standing outside a muggle home with him, calmly discussing the torture happening inside the house.
"When we have kids, can we make Harry their godfather?" Draco asked her.
"Hmm. No I don't think so," Luna answered, very seriously. "Harry's a bit dangerous, isn't he? I don't know that he would be a very good godfather to our kids."
Draco knew he loved her then and they shared their first kiss, effectively ruining sweets for himself as nothing would ever taste as sweet as Luna's lips did.
"You're right," Draco whispered to her afterward. "We'll ask Neville."
"Perfect."
Draco saw himself and Ron win the quidditch cup that year and watched as they cried in each others arms when they placed the cup on Trent's grave.
Draco saw the zoo, the strip club, the tattoo parlor, and the other wild things that he got to experience with the people he loved the best.
Draco saw Rose Nott for the first time and wondered how anyone could believe that tiny and lovely life was somehow worthy of death just because of her mother's parentage.
Draco saw himself just the night before with his head on Ron's lap, glaring up at his best friend.
"You know I hate you, right?" Draco asked him.
Ron grinned stupidly down at him. "You loveeee me."
Draco's entire seventeen years of life flashed like that, in little bursts of big moments, and then it was over.
And when Draco opened his eyes, it was Hermione and Trent that he saw before him.
Hermione opened her arms wide and embraced Draco like a brother.