Selene || Remus Lupin

Ch. 105 - Malfoy Manor

Draco had something snarky to say in response, but he swallowed it down, knowing that it was a bit under the belt to insult a guy trapped in a prison cell. "Perhaps," he managed to churn out through gritted teeth.

"Are you still in contact with your aunt, Draco?" Luna said lightly. She was picking at a couple of loose threads on her shirt, seemingly unengaged in their conversation, but Draco knew better.

"Maybe," Draco said quietly. No one was here to overhear their conversation, and yet Draco knew that his aunt was a dangerous topic to stray off to. "But that's to be kept quiet."

"Has she heard from Harry?" Dean asked eagerly, leaning forward and gripping the bars tightly.

"No," Draco said honestly. "But even Potter isn't stupid enough to reach out to anyone when he's on the run from the Dark Lord."

Thankfully, Dean didn't have anything to say to this, and so Draco took this as a sign to keep talking, his eyes flickering over to Luna. "I don't think anyone's really seen Potter since –"

Draco's voice died as a loud commotion could be heard from upstairs, causing them all to look towards the ceiling.

"What's going on?" Dean asked immediately.

"Well obviously I'd have no idea, as I'm down here with you," Draco bit back, scrambling up from the floor. "I'll go up and see what's going on. Keep quiet, and remember –"

"– we didn't see you down here," Luna finished for him, smiling serenely.

Draco nodded, and then he headed up the stairs.

When he arrived upstairs, he found the drawing room in complete pandemonium.

"Draco, Draco," his mother said breathlessly, as soon as he entered through the drawing room doors. "Come here, please, at once!"

His mother and father were huddled around a tangled group of prisoners on the floor, and he recognized several men standing before them, two of which he recognized as Scabior and – to his disgust and horror – Greyback, whom he knew to be currently employed as Snatchers for the Death Eaters.

Obviously they'd caught some Undesirables, and when Draco caught sight of a head full of red hair, a frizzy brown mane, and a messy black mop, his heart felt as though it was doused in icy water.

"They say they've got Potter," his mother said in a cold voice, when he'd drawn nearer. She didn't ask where he'd been, and he gave no allusions to such a thought, as it seemed no one was in their right mind to ask. "Come here, come closer."

Draco came face-to-face with the trio, and he nearly stumbled back at the sight of who must have been Potter. His face was swollen and puffy, muddled as if it were hot wax. He could've been unrecognisable to Draco if he wasn't someone he'd spent most of his school years hating.

Potter himself was staring back at Draco was a mixture of defiant resignation, surprise, and – dare he see it – perhaps a bit of fear.

If there hadn't been witnesses around, Draco might've launched into an angry tirade about how stupid Potter and his friends were for getting caught by idiots like Greyback and Scabior of all people, but of course he'd be forced to keep those thoughts to himself. Either way, he was too busy trying to think of a way out of this.

"Well, boy?" Greyback churned out impatiently, his eyes on Draco. Draco wasn't the least bit frightened, though. His family's reputation may have fallen from grace in the eyes of Voldemort, but Greyback would still be an idiot to try anything in front of present company.

Draco stared longer, and his eyes flickered between Weasley and Granger as well, both of whom looked positively terrified.

"Well, Draco?" his father asked. "Is it? Is it Harry Potter?"