sesheta66 | Without a Trace - Part 3 of "A Woman Scorned" (H/D, PG-13)

Title: Without a Trace - part 3 of A Woman Scorned series
Author:   sesheta_66
Rating:   PG-13
Word Count:   1583
Pairing/Characters: Harry/Draco, Ginny, Hermione
Challenge:   Jamie's AWDT challenge "Was it a dream?" and slythindor100 prompt "reality"
Warnings:   No beta.
Summary:   Draco wakes up confused and alone. As memories come back, reality hits with a vengeance. Part 3
Disclaimer:   The characters contained herein are not mine. They belong to JK Rowling and her publishers. No money is being made from this fiction, which is presented for entertainment purposes only.

1. A Valentine Surprise
2. The Plan

Draco awoke feeling groggy and a little confused. Everything was a blur to him. He tried to sit up, only to be struck by an overwhelming wave of dizziness. He sat back down on the bed, and dragged a hand across his face several times, to try to scrub away the fog.

He leaned back on the headboard and tried to focus. As his vision cleared, he saw that he was, in fact, in his own room, but as he reached instinctively next to him, he discovered that Harry was not there. He shut his eyes, and willed back the memories.

As images began to push their way through the maze of his mind, and materialize in front of him, his chest tightened. He kept seeing long red hair, a mocking smile, and Harry walking away.

"No, no, no. It can't be," he said to himself, shaking his head to will away the images. Just then, he heard rustling in the kitchen. Harry, he thought with relief. It was Harry. "Was it a dream?" he wondered aloud, as he listened for more evidence to support that thought. Yes, Harry was definitely in the kitchen. "Oh, thank God!" As he said the words, they rang hollow to the empty room. There was a nagging voice inside his head mocking him, insisting that things were never that easy.

Pulling himself up slowly this time, Draco was able to steady himself enough to make his way into the hallway, where the smell of bacon beckoned him to the kitchen. "Merlin, Harry, I had the worst dream! It felt so real, I --" He stopped abruptly, as he took in the sight before him. It was Hermione, not Harry, that was in their kitchen making breakfast.

"Oh, Draco! I'm so sorry," Hermione managed to sputter out before bursting into tears, her eyes already red and swollen. Before he had a chance to respond, she had flung herself at him, embracing him in a bone crushing hug.

"It wasn't a dream, then?" he managed to squeak out, already knowing the answer, but not knowing what else to say while in her death grip.

"I'm afraid not," she sniffed, as she released him.

Blinking back tears - it would not do for him to fall apart too - Draco took in his surroundings, thinking how strange it was to see Hermione bustling around in his and Harry's kitchen. "So why are you here?" he managed.

She looked a little hurt at the question, but answered anyway. "Well, you didn't exactly take it well when we discovered that both Harry and Ginny had disappeared, presumably without a trace. Snape gave you a strong calming draft, and told us that you'd be out cold for a good day or more, and that you'd likely wake up groggy and more than a little bit disoriented. He wanted to be sure that someone was going to be on hand when you woke up." At Draco's quizzical look, she continued. "He needed to be elsewhere, so I volunteered."

"You? You actually offered to look out for me? But why? We've never done more than tolerate one another, really. Why would you want to help me of all people?"

She took a deep breath, and looked at Draco with such compassion that he was taken aback. "Because you love Harry. Because Harry is my best friend, and you love him, and he loves you too. You mean more to him than anyone, and - much as I may have avoided admitting it to myself before now - you are good for him."

Draco looked at her, and at that moment realized just how lucky Harry was to be surrounded by friends like her. "We're good for each other, " he responded in a pained voice.

"Yes, you are," she agreed, giving his shoulder a gentle squeeze as she attempted a smile. "Which is the reason I'm here. I love Harry, and he loves you. What kind of friend would I be if I let you go through this alone? I know you're hurting. We all are. And I think we'll have more success finding him if we all work together."

"All of us?" Draco asked suspiciously.

"Well, okay. Perhaps you and Ron would be more effective if you worked --"

"As far away from each other as possible," Draco finished for her.

"Well, perhaps you can't work closely together, but we're still all working hard to find Harry, so that's what's important, right?"

"Fair enough."

"Besides," she drawled, "it wouldn't hurt to have you indebted to me." This time, it was a real smile that reached her face.

Draco chuckled in response. "Indeed," he said, acknowledging silently that his respect for Harry's muggle-born friend had just gone up a few notches. "So what's for breakfast then?"

They sat eating their breakfast in companionable silence, having agreed that Draco needed some nutrition, some caffeine, and a little bit of time to clear his head before being brought up-to-date.

After breakfast, as they discussed Snape's role in all of this, Draco's anger at being slipped potion without his knowledge was bubbling near the surface. Hermione did her best to explain that they had no leads, and that they had been told that it would take at least a day before any of them could go out searching. Only after hearing that news did Snape take matters into his own hands where Draco was concerned.

Draco argued that doing something was always better than doing nothing, but Snape had argued that point. Draco had been in such a state that he was, to quote Snape, "acting more like a bumbling Gryffindor, diving in without thought" and that he would have done more harm than good, announcing their arrival to all and sundry.

He had gone on to say that Draco "needed to get a grip, get some sleep, regroup, and start acting like the calculating, intelligent and devious Slytherin we all know him to be." Then, in true Slytherin style, he had slipped the potion to Draco without anyone being the wiser, until he passed out on the floor. While nobody agreed with his methods, nobody dared challenge the potions master either. Besides, it was too late by then, and Snape knew it.

"So what have you found out so far?" Draco asked, deciding to change the topic. He would deal with his godfather, regardless of his good intentions, later - after they got Harry back.

"Not much, I'm afraid. They traced Ginny's magical signature from the pub to an abandoned warehouse, where she and Harry presumably apparated. From the warehouse, there were four portkeys activated."

"Four?"

"Yes, well it seems she had this planned for quite some time, and her plan included numerous diversionary tactics."

"How did she get permits for four separate portkeys?"

"Well, see ... that's the thing. They were not exactly legal, and there were more than four." She looked up at him, tears threatening to fall again. "She seems to have taken extreme measures to ensure they aren't found. The portkeys were each programmed with timers that bounced from place to place to place, so they aren't easily traceable. And from each point, there were additional ones activated, and we don't know which were actually used by her, and which were not."

"That's it?" Draco asked, astounded that this would stop them. "So we trace all of them, and each subsequent one, follow every lead, every trail, until we find them."

"That's what we're doing now."

"We aren't doing anything!" Draco was starting to get agitated again.

"Draco, relax!"

"Don't tell me to relax!" He slammed his hands down on the table and stood up. "This is Harry we're talking about! He is out there - God knows where - with that freak of a lunatic witch doing God knows what with him!"

"Draco, really, the Aurors are doing everything they can. They are narrowing the possibilities down, and are looking for any trace of either one of their magical signatures. They will be giving us an update in about an hour." She looked at him quite desperately. "And they promised to contact us right away if they picked up their trail."

Draco tried to get his breathing under control. I never get this out of control. What's wrong with me? God, Harry! Where the hell are you? I need you. Let us know where you are - somehow - please. With a defeated sigh, Draco got up. "I'm going to have a shower, to try to clear my head and calm down a bit. Then we are going to the Ministry to meet with those half-wits that call themselves Aurors. When they give us all the information they have, we will go out and find him." He lifted pleading grey eyes up to meet desolate brown ones. "We have to find him, Hermione," he choked out.

While scalding hot water was beating down over his head, neck, and back, and steam wrapped itself around his mind and body, Draco pondered the current situation. He had known that Ginny hadn't ever truly got over Harry. He knew that she wanted to win him back. He had imagined that she would resort to tricks, games, perhaps even blackmail to get him back. But now, as he longed for Harry's presence with every fibre of his being, Draco knew that the reality of the situation was much, much worse than he could ever have imagined.

Part 4 - A Beautiful Lie

Current Mood: contemplative

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

From:

charmed310.livejournal.com

Good LORD!!!!!!

It's gone all "Without A Trace"!

*panics* I know you didn't kill off Harry... ~~(not like me)~~ but for God's sake!!!!

From:

There's Always Fiction

Without a Trace - Part 3 of "A Woman Scorned" (H/D, PG-13)

Links

Page Summary

Style Credit

Expand Cut Tags