Windbound 18/35

[herumtreiber]

Title: Windbound - 18/35
Chapter: Eighteen
Author:herumtreiber 
Genre: post DH, slash, romance, adventure
Disclaimer: The world and characters of Harry Potter belong to JK Rowling. Nor do I make any money from the writing of these stories.
Rating: NC-17
Warnings: None
Epilogue compliant? Epilogue complaisant
Chapter length: ~4,397 words
Summary: Draco/Harry, Ron/Hermione, Hannah/Dean, Justin/Daphne, Ginny/??? My take on the Marriage Law. Should they obey the government’s edict or fight it the Muggle way? This leads to marriage equality. Plus there’s a twist exploring how a Horcrux operates. Good!Lucius, finally:) Hufflepuff house is amply represented here.



Table of contents




Chapter seventeen

December 3rd, 1998
Hogwarts

Susan and Hannah were seated at the Hufflepuff table, together with Justin and Terry. When Draco failed to make an appearance midway through the meal, they were concerned.

Draco loved breakfast. He may not always wake up with the best mood, but he loved to eat the nutritious breakfast meals and prepare for the day. This was unlike him.

When the meal ended, Hannah went to the Slytherin table to ask Daphne about the blond's whereabouts. Susan went to Gryffindor to ask if Hermione, Harry or Ginny had any information.
When Susan related the strange story of a missing Draco, Harry interjected, "Draco must have gone to Malfoy Manor! Nothing to worry about, Susan! He'll turn up in time. We'd better not disturb him, or he will be angry with us!"

Hermione goggled as Ginny and Susan narrowed their eyes. The carefree Harry walked away, presumably to the Quidditch Pitch.

Susan commented, "The git! Did you see him dismiss Draco so easily! Is this how he shows he cares for him, by abandoning him?"
Ginny concurred, "It's because Draco is not a member of the hallowed Trio. If he were, things would move very quickly, no offence meant, Mione!"

Hermione replied, "None taken."

They had their first classes of the day. When the Hufflepuffs had Potions, Susan, Hannah and Justin stayed behind, together with Daphne. The brunette Slytherin was elected as their spokesperson as they prepared to ask Slughorn for his help. Maybe he had a sweet disposition towards Slytherins, seeing how he was the Head of Slytherin.

When the class ended, the foursome stayed behind and Daphne said, "Sir, Draco Malfoy appears to be missing."

"Since when?"
"His absence was noticed this morning. None of his housemates appears to have seen him today. He seems to have vanished without a trace, we are very worried and we'd like to ask for your help."

Slughorn replied, "You did well, Miss Greengrass. However I think he went to his parents' Manor, and he forgot to tell you. Unfortunately I can't do anything until 48 hours pass.

"When that times comes, please contact me again and I'll see what I can do."

The dejected Hufflepuffs and Slytherin went to the Room of Requirement to wait for the Gryffindors and Ravenclaw. Hermione, Ginny and Terry had offered to go to McGonagall and get her help in locating Draco. They had seemingly hoped that with their reputations preceding them, the Studious Trio would be easily able to sway her.

When the studious ones arrived accompanied by Harry, the others could see by their faces that they had also failed. An angry Ginny explained that McGonagall was of the firm opinion that Draco was at Malfoy Manor. She adamantly refused to move one finger until one week had passed. She also refused to contact Lucius!

Harry looked distraught now. Apparently he'd realized how strange it would be for Draco to leave Hogwarts and not tell anyone about it. Justin angrily took out his cell phone from his pocket. Fortunately it was him who had paced back and forth in front of the tapestry this time, and he had wished for an environment where he could use his phone.

He called his father at his estate. Jason answered and Justin explained to his father concisely what was happening. He asked Jason to contact Lucius, because his help was needed.

At home, Jason went to get the owl Lucius had given him, scribbled a note and sent it.
After some time, Jason heard a popping sound, which he took to mean that Lucius had come somehow. Indeed, a little while later a pale Lucius appeared. To Jason's surprise he appeared lost and defeated, not at all his usual jaunty self.

When Jason suggested Lucius go to the Ministry and the Aurors, Lucius replied bitterly, "The Ministry? The Aurors? They loathe the Malfoy name and they would do nothing to help us. In fact, they would probably derail the investigation and seek to use Draco for their so-called noble purposes!
"The fact is that we Malfoys are powerless. Much more vulnerable than an ordinary person in the street. That person at least has the covering hand of anonymity. We don't, we are exposed. They only watch as hungry vultures to see who is the first one who can pounce.

"I don't even have any pull with the school. I once had a Governor's seat, but I lost it due to my fumbling maneuvers to help the demented tyrant. If I press McGonagall, she will refuse to help, because Draco is a lowly Slytherin. How I wish I had been wise enough to suggest to Draco to be sorted into Gryffindor!"

Jason smirked eerily like Lucius as he replied, "Maybe you have lost your seat, my friend, but that is no obstacle for me to get one! If Hogwarts is really so free of any Dark thoughts as they claim, then they cannot help but be obliging when I meekly suggest it is time for one of those vaunted Governor's seats to go to a Muggle! We will see then if they really practice what they preach!

"If they refuse then they will face a relentless pressure. Which reminds me, I'd better talk on the phone with Susan's, Hannah's and Terry's caretakers, as I intend to put a lot of pressure on that intractable Scottish Headmistress, McGonagall. I'll also let other parents know!"
Jason tried to cheer up Lucius saying, "The benefits of political pull, where to apply it, oh my!"

In Hogwarts, Hermione remained behind in the Room and tried assiduously to perfect wandless magic. The Universe being as it is, she failed miserably. That is, she could perform wandless magic, but it took her an extremely long time in her view, 3 minutes! The good news was that she had perfected her Occlumency. She had mentally pictured a Scottish castle comprised of different rooms, her thoughts, and the sole means of accessing them was closely guarded. If someone tried to enter her thoughts the bridge would be raised and the castle would remain an impregnable fortress.

The remaining members of the gang had duly agreed to search Hogwarts: Justin, Susan, Hannah and Harry took the Towers and the upper floors. Meanwhile, Daphne, Terry and surprisingly enough, Dean Thomas, dedicated themselves to searching the lower levels, including the Dungeons.

When Dean had seen how upset Hannah and the others were, he offered freely his help. He said, "Draco and I have sometimes fought, but these last days, I sensed a change in him. He's grown more tolerant and open. He may still be sarcastic and opinionated, but I don't think that is a good pretext for hunting someone and hurting them. If it were, Zach Smith, Ernie McMillan and Ron Weasley would have been targeted long ago.

"It is because he is a Slytherin. His past, coupled with his family, make him persona non grata for some, and that is simply prejudice. So whatever I can do for a fellow schoolmate I will do."
They searched for hours, and they couldn't find anything. Not surprising, considering how big Hogwarts was, and how many secret rooms it must have.

During dinner, the Hufflepuffs, Ravenclaw, Slytherins and Gryffindors did not eat much at all. Ginny narrowed her eyes as she observed Ron clowning around, seemingly at ease with the fact that Draco was absent. He might be undergoing torture right now, or maybe he was already dead! Luckily for her faith in Harry, the Gryffindor had decided he had been wrong, and was a helpful ally as they searched for Draco.

Ginny noticed how exuberant Ron seemed today. She knitted her eyebrows and vowed to herself to get to the bottom of her brother's obvious cheer.

The discouraged students went to bed. Hermione continued desperately with her wandless exercises, hoping to master it in time to save Draco. She knew that the more that time passed and Draco was not found, the worse the results would be. She prayed to the God of her youth and the gods of her present to give succor to the young man. He was flawed, but he had hidden depths. All the wisdom and the pain, together with the growth and repentance, could not, should not vanish from this world as suddenly as a desert mirage.

Unbeknownst to the rest of the students, a shadowy figure made his way to the Owlery. Once there, the figure let its cowl down. Harry waved his hand as if greeting the owls, and then he prepared to transform into his Animagus form.

Harry had researched some books of Remus's and he had found the path the Marauders took to become Animagi. Once in the school, he asked Slughorn to give him the potion to reveal his Animagus form, and the jovial Head of Slytherin complied. After the long months preparing this, he had achieved his form last week. It hadn't been a surprise at all.

Then Harry transformed into a big Golden Eagle. His wingspan was nearly two meters; he had black-brown feathers, although to an unbiased observer, it would seem as if the Eagle had unruly black feathers. He had strong muscular legs and strong talon claws.

The owls were hooting and flying around like crazy. They might know he was Harry, to their eyes it seemed like a big raptor was among them and would attack soon. Of course, it might also have to do with the fact that Eagle Harry liked to mock-attack the owls when he saw them, which might be fun for the Eagle, but very scary for the owl.

Harry spread out his wings and flew out of the Owlery. He rode the currents and soon achieved the clouds. Although his vision as an Eagle was superb, it was night and the lack of light hampered it. Fortunately the moonlight was plentiful and allowed him to see enough to fly by. Up here the Earth seemed like a peaceful place, all silver and black.

Harry turned his eyes to the North and observed the constellation he liked so much. When he was in his Animagus form the problems seemed to be manageable and solvable, as opposed to the humdrum of ordinary life.

Draco, he could not allow any harm to come to the Slytherin. He had to prevent this.

After flying for two hours more, Harry returned to the Owlery and changed back. Thankfully he didn't have to worry about clothes. They appeared and disappeared as needed.

The students did not sleep well at all. During breakfast, they were yawning and eating listlessly their porridges and eggs and bacon, when the owls came in.

A ferocious-looking barn owl swooped down in front of McGonagall and deposited a red envelope. Hermione, who was watching, concluded that it was a Howler and she couldn't wait to hear what it said. The Headmistress had fallen in her favor when she failed to do anything to help search for Draco.

McGonagall shakily opened the envelope and a shrieking voice could be heard, "How dare you, Minerva? How dare you wash your hands off of a student of yours just because he is a Slytherin? Malfoy has gone missing, and you do nothing! I bet that if it were one of your coddled Gryffindors you would be bringing Hogwarts down by now! But because he is a Slytherin and a Malfoy to boot, you watch happily from afar, doing nothing!

"I intend to call a meeting of the Board of Governors with the goal of scrutinizing your actions. You are behaving exactly like your pompous mentor did. Teachers murdered in the school, a Basilisk let loose, a prisoner of Azkaban who terrorizes the students, a student kidnapped from Hogwarts, an inquisitor torturing students, a plot to murder the Headmaster which said Headmaster allowed to proceed. Dumbledore's tenure indicates how fragile or Machiavellian his modus operandi was.

"You are following the same path, the omniscient Headmistress who cannot see far beyond her fingers. A student is kidnapped and you do nothing, presumably because he is simply a Slytherin. Shame on you, Minerva, shame on you!"

Neville Longbottom stood up and started clapping, to show his support for his grandmother, Augusta Longbottom. Neville's Gran showed strength of character by writing that scorching missive, even if her choice of headgear was a little outlandish at times. After two minutes he sat down, just in time to witness the next Howlers, from Susan Bones's mother, Hannah's aunt, and lastly Terry's father.

A shaking McGonagall reached for her goblet as several figures entered the Great Hall. With impeccable timing, possibly because they had house-elves to assure they arrived at the best moment, Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy strode in, followed by Jason Finch-Fletchley.

Lucius immediately confronted McGonagall. "As you can see, I am here, Headmistress, and Draco is not. He has not been to the Manor. I demand that you institute a full search for him at Hogwarts."

McGonagall sputtered, "You demand, Mr. Malfoy? You dare to demand? We will follow procedure and wait an additional 24 hours, and then we'll search the Slytherin common room and the Dungeons. Later in the week we may search the rest."

Horace Slughorn walked up to them and commented, "The boy is a loner. He's probably somewhere alone, thinking about things. Give him time and he will come back."
Pomona Sprout concurred, "Yes, the boy walks to his own beat. Give him time and he will return."

Narcissa spoke up, because she was really tired of all these roly-poly characters whining and not doing anything to help Draco, "McGonagall, if you don't help us now, the whole story will be in the Daily Prophet tomorrow, how Hogwarts left a boy to face a mortal peril alone. There'll be such an outcry, that it would not surprise me when the Slytherin and Hufflepuff parents pull their children out of Hogwarts. With the school reduced in half, it will have to close."

Jason sauntered close to McGonagall, and smirked as he said, "I will also complain against you for reckless and malicious behavior while being charged with the education of hundreds of children."

McGonagall snorted and replied, "I hardly think so, Mr. Finch-Fletchley."

Jason's smirk grew more feral as he answered, "I think it is you who are wrong, Minerva. You see, I won't complain to the Ministry or the Wizengamot, because I know your minions work there and will gladly give you a free pass to do with Hogwarts as you will. I will complain to an independent source, one who has the laws in place to protect us, who in fact has had these laws for hundreds of years. They will carefully judge your actions, and if found guilty you will pay the consequences. Your vaunted friends won't help you. They simply can't."

McGonagall meditated for some time. She considered the threatening words of Narcissa and Jason. She had to admit, they sounded serious. It would be better to go with the flow.

McGonagall said, "Ok, we will begin the search immediately. Classes are cancelled for today. I will assign floors for teachers to search." She addressed the students and said, "Have any of you noticed anything unusual?"

The students fidgeted and some whispered to each other. McGonagall was about to dismiss them when Dean Thomas spoke up, "I noticed Seamus Finnigan didn't sleep in our dorm room last night. When I woke up at 6:00 AM his bed was still unmade."
Ginny's eyes narrowed as she looked at Ron. How come he hadn't said anything? Seamus was his roommate, as was Dean.

During lunch, which the stressed students ate together, their talk was seemingly disheartening. They were very worried about where Draco was and what was happening to him. They talked despairingly of never seeing him again, until Hannah spoke up.

"Cheer up! Things are not as dim as they seem. We have to keep doing our utmost to get Draco back! We can't dwell on bad feelings forever. Justin and Terry, you can search a bit the grounds around Hogwarts, get Hagrid's help! Susan and I will search Slytherin again; Hermione, Harry and Ginny, you can check in the Library and see if you find a Locator spell. Daphne, Robert and Dean, you could look over the Quidditch Pitch. Now go on and move!"

Everyone followed the petite Hufflepuff's energetic commands.

Hermione, Harry and Ginny went back to Gryffindor Tower to get some books. Hermione grabbed her bag, and they made their way to the Library.

Hermione looked in the Library for any tomes dealing with possible Locator spells. She found an especially promising one, 'Inner secrets of gargoyles and locations by Wasser Speier.

She grabbed the book and similar ones and went down to their table. She sat down next to Ginny and pulled out some parchments, including some of those Draco had that night.

Hermione started to read the book. Unfortunately, the spell only worked if you had the blood of the person you were trying to reach, which was a little unreasonable seeing as they had supposedly disappeared. She reached for another book to research when the door to the Library was opened forcefully and Andromeda Tonks walked in, carrying Teddy.

Andromeda walked straight to them with a sour mien. Hermione thought she seemed disappointed because she lacked her usual Draco-bashing treat.

Andromeda said, "I'm trying to talk to McGonagall and I can't seem to find her." She looked entreatingly at Harry as she said, "Would you care for Teddy while I go search for her?"

Harry nodded, thinking that McGonagall must be unreachable because she had been recruited most unwillingly to look for Draco, Andromeda's nephew. He figured the two older women cared not at all for the Slytherin.

Teddy was irritable, and there was no pacifier to distract him, so Hermione gave him some blank parchments to play with.

Teddy started waving the parchments around and drooling on them. Harry thought he would have to use a cleaning charm on the parchment, if he wanted to use it.

Suddenly a blur of color caught his eye. Teddy was waving around a colored parchment, when Hermione had given him completely blank ones!

Harry observed intently the lines of color as Teddy stopped waving it. He noticed the architectural drawing, the lines that seemed to flow so easily. So this was the Map Draco had told him about, the Serpent's Map! Harry frowned at what he perceived as a slight against his parents and their vaunted Marauder's Map.

So the Map was among the parchments Draco left, but how was it that it could be read? He remembered Draco's words that the Map could be operated only by the Malfoy, Black or Snape blood.

He mentally slapped himself as he realized that of course Teddy was a Black, he was the grandson of Andromeda Black!
Harry nudged Hermione's elbow and pointed toward Teddy looking interestedly at the Serpent's Map.

Hermione was quite surprised, and then she knew what they had to do.

They had the Map, and they had a means to look for Draco, if he was still at Hogwarts! Gently she put the Map on the table and moved Teddy's fingers so it showed different rooms. She was pleased to note that the Gryffindor lions no longer looked so psychotic, nor the Badgers so calm or the Eagles so constipated.

She searched relentlessly the Map, using Teddy's finger as a pointing device. Silently she conjured some cookies, which she gave to Teddy in order to keep him entertained. She was worried to see that Draco was not held in the Dungeons.
She started on Ravenclaw Tower, and soon found to her delight an icon showing a smirking snake with the name Draco Malfoy, in the next room there were several icons, one had the name Seamus Finnigan.

Harry took out a coin from his pocket and activated it, sending a message to Susan, asking for their attendance in the Library, because they had news of the utmost import concerning Draco.

Presently the gang appeared. Harry explained that they had a strong hunch Draco was in a certain room, guarded by Seamus and several others, he said they needed to get to that location and rescue Draco.

They made their way as if going to a dangerous battle. Harry, Justin and Terry were the attack, Susan, Robert and Hannah protected the flanks, Dean and Daphne were the rearguard, Ginny protected Hermione, who was holding Teddy and had the Map in her grasp.

When they got to the door of the room Seamus was apparently guarding, Hermione noticed a small white square in the Map, with the password, "The greater good."
After that, Hermione retreated to a small room across the corridor, to protect Teddy while they engaged in battle.

After Justin said the password and the door opened, Harry, Justin, Robert, Susan and Terry rushed in. Seamus and the others were caught unawares, but they soon rose to the challenge and started to hex them. Justin and Terry dodged the curses easily, and delivered their own effectively. Harry was a master when he attacked, and it was their coordinated feints and support of each other that won the day. Susan was caught by an Immobulus and couldn't move, when a hex seemingly escaped and shot through the door. It was about to hit Hannah, and Hermione wished desperately that she could counteract that curse, but she needed minutes to be able to cast wandlessly, and she was holding Teddy and the Map.

Fortunately, when the spell was almost upon Hannah, a Protego shield went up around her, cast by Ginny. The Hufflepuff nodded to Ginny and muttered 'Thanks,' as they entered the room to find the miscreants completely subdued. The Irishman had been hit with some interesting spells that gave him a crocodile snout and antelope's ears. He was immobilized and helpless, as were his partners in crime.

Harry and Hannah went to the next room. They soon called out, "Are you sure he is here, Hermione?"

After the enemy had been put out of commission, Hermione entered the room. She took a look at the Map, taking care not to jostle Teddy's finger so it could remain in contact with it. She replied, "Yes, he is there with you and Hannah, Harry."

"Well, I see no one."

With her heart sinking, Hermione entered the room cautiously and beheld a bed and a couch. Things were haphazardly thrown around, as if people had been looking for something. She only saw Harry and Hannah.

Then she held Teddy and the Map carefully. She moved Teddy's finger in a diagonal motion and got the Map to zoom in on the room. She observed their names and icons, and still it showed Draco. According to the Map, Draco was on the couch.

Now either the Map was wrong or Draco couldn't be seen. Maybe he had an Invisibility Cloak, or had a spell to make him invisible.

Hermione gingerly moved her hand over the couch and soon encountered an unseen obstruction. She made to grab a cloak but found none.

Damn, now she had to take off the spell! How could they treat a wounded, invisible Draco? She uttered Finite incantatem as she waved her wand and nothing happened.

Now what? Why did all these things happen to her? She wondered why a Finite didn't work. Probably the miscreants took away Draco's wand. He must have thought becoming invisible would confuse his captors. She'd bet good money that he had cast the invisibility spell wandlessly, so special considerations needed to be taken to ensure it was finished, like casting a Finite wandlessly.

Hermione concentrated, notwithstanding the fact that Teddy was near, held by Hannah, or that the guys were talking quietly nearby, lifting the Immobulus from Susan. It mattered not at all for her in her thought universe. She concentrated and entered the magical meditation state and uttered Finite Incantatem.

The spell was lifted and Draco appeared in front of them. They gasped, because Draco had a big bump on his head, and there were bloody streaks marking his blond hair. He appeared to be unconscious. Susan cast quick diagnostic spells and told them that they had kicked his ribs, breaking two of them. Harry carefully proceeded to take Draco to the Infirmary, taking care in handling his body smoothly, and they also took the miscreants there, not caring much whether their thick heads met the door or floor.

Chapter nineteen