With you in my Arms

65. It wasn't a wedding at wand point, was it?

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It was a rather windy and the rain didn't help either to improve James Mulligan's mood as it was lashing against the windows. He was currently sitting amongst a group of four German aurors and wasn't quite sure what was going on. They had explained that one of their patrols had found a young man during the night after an anonymous tip-off. It appeared that he belonged under the jurisdiction of the British Ministry of Magic as he claimed to be British. At this moment in time he was still checked over by a healer to make sure that he was okay. James had been asked to wait for the medical check-up to be concluded and then he would be able to speak to the wizard in question.

Rolling his wand between his fingers as he thought of Narcissa waiting back at his flat for him he missed the repeated glances his German counterparts were aiming at him. He also didn't see that one of them frowned at something one of his colleagues had just said. His mind was way too occupied with the memory of a witch just eleven years old trying to hide in his compartment on board the Hogswarts' Express. She had been followed by an arrogant boy a short while later. He had been asking for her, but had been told the witch in question wasn't available for him. The other boy would have stormed out, if he had allowed himself to do something as undignified as this. What he had done was glare and then just strut away.

The voices around him had become a bit louder, but as they were still speaking German he wasn't quite sure what was actually going on.

"Laut dieser Beschreibung hat er... Ihr wißt schon."

"Das kann doch garnicht sein. Wie kann er es in der Vergangheit gehabt haben und jetzt ist es plötzlich nicht mehr da. Das macht doch keinen Sinn!"

"Ich habe noch nie davon gehört, daß man es entfernen kann."

"Was dann ja wohl bedeutet, daß er entweder einen Weg gefunden hat, genau das zu tun oder aber, daß er es nie hatte."

"Das hieße dann aber, daß er nicht der Draco Malfoy ist, der er vorgibt zu sein."

James' ears suddenly alerted their owner that something important had been said. Something in connection to Draco. He cleared his throat.

"Sorry to interrupt, what about Mr. Malfoy?"

Four stunned faces turned to face him. The probably highest ranking wizard used the translation spell again.

"Excuse me?"

"You were talking about Draco, Draco Malfoy."

The Germans exchanged glances.

"Yes. Why do you ask?"

"Because, if you have found him, I need to speak to him as soon as possible. I also need to inform his wife and mother. They are worried sick back home."

"He has a wife? He says he's only 19 years old."

It was obvious that the man asking was a bit surprised by this development.

"Well...," James thought about how to phrase his answer best, "the boy maybe only 19, but he's been legally married since about a week ago."

"A week?" it seemed to only now dawn on the other aurors what kind of drama they had uncovered with their patrol collecting the foreign wizard.

"He was here on honeymoon."

"That young witch that was here the other day, claiming her husband had vanished..."

"That was his wife, Hermione." James nodded.

"She was pregnant." another of the German wizards interjected.

"Yes." it was more a sigh than an answer. "She is."

The four men looked at each other. The witch must have been a lot younger than she had appeared, if she was married to a teenager. She was probably still a teenager herself. Foreign countries, foreign customs, but this was a bit too foreign. In Germany the wizarding population married quite young as well, but they were normally at least in their mid-twenties, not their late teens.

After a moment of heavy silence the wizard in charge spoke again.

"Let me get this straight, Draco Malfoy, a 19 year old teenager who has been married for about a week and his wife... How old is that deern? She told us she was twenty."

Deern? Was something wrong with the translation spell suddenly James wondered.

"Excuse me, what did you just call her?" hopefully not what he was thinking they had.

"What? Deern? Oh, sorry, that's a word we use in Hamburg instead of girl. It's not German as such that's why the spell didn't translate it."

"I see." it didn't sound totally convinced.

"So they have come to Hamburg for their honeymoon. He then suddenly vanishes, she's sent here by the hotel staff and we ultimately sent her home as there is nothing she could do here to help us find him. Shortly afterwards we get a tip-off and the patrol is discovering him in the shrubbery on the shores of the Binnenalster and to top it all that girl is already expecting a child."

He paused.

"It wasn't a wedding at wand point, was it? Because she's pregnant."

"No! Their circumstances were just a bit... unconventional."

"Okay..." the hesitation that was suddenly settling over the room made the only Brit in it extremely edgy. Was there something these guys weren't telling him? Had something serious happened to Narcissa's son after all?

"What? What has happened to him? I though you said he was fine and I could take him home as soon as the healer is finished with him."

"Well... The description we got for him from the British Ministry of Magic doesn't quite match the person we have found."

"How?" What were they on about now? It had seemed all but a formality when James arrived here.

"What is his most distinguishing feature?"

"White-blond hair, very fair skin and light grey eyes."

"And..."

What was he expecting to say? He couldn't say, if Draco had sustained some kind of special scare or mark... He groaned. Of course, the Dark Mark. His father would have made sure that the skin of his only son was as mutilated as his own. Could he tell these Aurors about it though? Would they understand the special circumstances or just assume that the boy was a Death Eater who should be in jail by all rights? He would need to play it safe here. There were two witches he had no desire to meet, if the news he was bringing would be of the imprisonment of their son and husband respectively.

"It is possible that he has sustained some kind of still visible scars from playing Quidditch at school, but I couldn't say."

That was not what they had expected his answer to be. It was clearly visible on their faces.

"He has a... mark?"

They knew. Bugger! Fine, if they already knew there was no point beating about the bush.

"His father has forced him into accepting to be branded a few years back, magically branded. I would assume that this mark is still visible."

"Yes, that is what it says in our report." he waved a blue manilla folder. "But the young man we found doesn't have this mark."

James Mulligan felt like a bludger had just hit him. That was impossible!

"We don't quite understand it either, but do you know, "he checked his folder, probably more for a effect rather than anything else, "Mr. Malfoy personally? Could you say for sure, if it was him or not?"

A slow nod was all the answer that was given. There were doubts in his mind about being capable of identifying the Malfoy heir beyond reasonable doubt and if he suddenly didn't have the Dark Mark anymore... No, you couldn't get rid of it. Or could you? Did Draco Malfoy of all people possibly find a way to rid himself of the evil inflicted on him?

"Okay then, we'll have him brought here and you can see, if it's him or not."

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It must have been at least five cups of tea she had drunk and about two plates of biscuits before her mind had calmed down enough to be able to push her recent horror trip into dreamland into the back of her mind. It was nearly lunchtime. She was expected for the big Christmas feast at the Burrow, but if she would find the strength to actually go was another matter.

Hermione recalled her last encounter with Fred and his untimely death. She saw George and Alicia smiling at each other. It was a shame that they would never be able to share their happiness with the fallen brother. Teddy's face invaded her thoughts. The boy was already walking, but neither his father nor his mother would ever be able to see their little treasure pull himself up and try to follow them around.

Absentmindedly she run her fingers of her extending tummy. Would his father ever see him walk? A tear started to slowly make its way over her cheek.

There was somebody in the room.

All her senses went into overdrive. She could feel the other person, but he or she didn't move. There was only the faintest sound of slightly erratic breathing. She tried to scan the shadows around her, but the soft glow of the dying embers didn't give too much light. It should have been light outside, shouldn't it? Kreacher must have closed the curtains to make sure she wasn't disturbed. But why would he do that?

Her head slowly swivelled to her right. There was something moving close to the corner. Her wand gripped tightly she pointed it in the general direction of the suspected person and whispered, "Lumos maxima.".

The room was engulfed a bright light and she could see the intruder. Moments later she had hurdled over the backrest of the sofa and threw herself in the open arms waiting for her.

"Draco!"