Draco was fucking fed up.

All he thought about was Astrid. He felt so scared for her, wondering how she was getting on with Potter.

He also felt like he was letting her down yet again. He had promised to protect her and look after her, yet he had just let her walk off into the night alone to inform Potter that she was the very thing he was hunting.

"How was Hogwarts, darling?"

Draco gave his mother a withered look. Was she seriously asking this?

"Fantastic, mother," he said in a drawling sardonic tone, "the Carrows are coping with the loss of their Head Torturer of Muggle-Borns and Blood Traitors by getting us students to torture each other instead. Eleven year olds are now mastering the art of the Cruciatius Curse. I'm just counting down the days to return to that fucking hell hole."

She flinched and Draco felt instantly bad. He didn't mean to take his mood out on his mother. But he was just so angry all the time.

"How dare you speak to your mother like that!" Lucius spat, sitting up abruptly, causing red wine to slop out of his goblet. "Apologise this instant."

Draco eyed his father disdainfully. Lucius was looking a complete mess these days, and Draco was finding it increasingly difficult to find any respect left for him. But he loved his mother, so he would apologise for her.

"I'm sorry, mother," he said, agitatedly running his hand through his hair, "I'm just... frustrated."

The sound of the front door bell trilled around them. Draco looked up with a start, wondering who would be calling at this time of night.

"We are all frustrated, dear," his mother said, getting to her feet. "We're in the middle of a war."

"Your mother is trying her best," Lucius hissed, over at Draco once Narcissa had left to see to the visitor. "She's cried herself to sleep every night worrying about you!"

Draco winced. He didn't want that for his mother. He didn't want any of this.

There was some sort of commotion going on out in the hallway. He heard the sound of his aunt squealing about something and gruff voices drifted in from the doorway.

Draco exchanged a befuddled look with his father as the sound of frantic footsteps approached.

The door burst open and Bellatrix came skipping in, with his mother right behind her.

"Draco! We have a surprise for you!" Bellatrix tittered, and Draco watched as Snatchers entered, dragging prisoners into the room with them.

Draco swallowed as he and his father stood up. He instantly recognised the Granger girl and Weasley. This was not good.

Bellatrix grabbed one of the prisoners Draco didn't recognise and roughly thrust them under the light of the chandelier. Whoever it was had a massive puffy face, making them difficult to identify.

"Come here, Draco," his aunt cajoled, beckoning him over. "I want you to tell me if this is one of your old school chums. I want you to tell me if we have caught Harry Potter!"

Shit. Draco panicked, glancing immediately to the fourth, unidentifiable prisoner. If it was indeed Potter under the chandelier then that must mean Astrid had been caught too.

But from what he could see of the fourth prisoner standing over in the dark, it was someone with short blonde hair. It didn't look like Astrid to him.

Perhaps she escaped?

"Come on, come on! Don't be shy!" Bellatrix coaxed eagerly.

Draco took a tentative step towards the puffy faced prisoner.

"I, I can't be sure," he mumbled, hardly daring to even look at him properly. From what he could tell, it could easily be Potter.

"Look closer!" Draco shuddered as his father appeared by his shoulder, pushing him further forwards towards the prisoner. "If it is Harry Potter then the Dark Lord will thank us."

Draco looked at his father in complete disgust. That's all he ever cared about - pleasing the stupid Dark Lord. It was actually sickening. Draco had never been more ashamed to be his son.

Not knowing what else to do, he took a closer look at the puffy face of the prisoner. He was pretty sure it was Potter now. And, as their eyes met, Draco could tell Potter knew he knew, too.

Where the fuck is Astrid? Draco silently communicated to him.

"What's wrong with his face?" Was what came out his mouth.

"Stinging jinx I reckon," shouted the man holding the fourth prisoner. He slowly came forward pushing and kicking the prisoner with him.

It was a girl, Draco could see, and there was something horrifyingly familiar about her.

"This one refuses to state her name. The fucking bitch bit my hand and tried to run, but I got her I did." The Snatcher grinned, revealing a set of rotten white teeth, as he shoved the girl roughly next to Potter.

Draco tried to get a look at her face but she was keeping her eyes firmly cast downwards. It couldn't be Astrid, he realised. Her face shape was all wrong as well as her hair.

"Well, come on then!" Bellatrix trilled, "is it Potter or not?"

"I don't know," Draco shrugged, and was just about to turn around to go and join his mother when something shiny caught his eye.

Around the girl's thin wrist, a silver bracelet hung. A ring of Edelweiss's.

Draco's heart hammered. Without thinking, he took a step closer to her and willed her to look up at him.

Slowly, she lifted her face, and as her eyes met his, Draco had to hold back the gasp that had threatened to escape.

It was Astrid. His Astrid.

"Recognise this one do you, Draco?" Bellatrix asked looking over with interest. "Or just taking a fancy?"

"I- I, err... no," Draco stammered, Astrid's eyes widening in trepidation as they held each other's gaze.

How he itched to reach out and touch her hand, to intertwine his fingers in hers.

"WHERE THE FUCK DID YOU GET THAT SWORD FROM?" Bellatrix suddenly screeched at the Snatcher who was holding the Granger girl.

There was suddenly a lot of yelling as Bellatrix flipped her lid, accusing Granger of stealing from her.

"Draco! Take the prisoners down to the cellar," Bellatrix barked, "me and this one are going to have a little girly chat."

She dragged a yelping Granger and threw her violently to the floor. Draco sensed Astrid go to move, as if to help her, but he quickly wrapped his fingers firmly around her arm, preventing her from doing so.

"Don't," he hissed warningly. He couldn't risk her getting hurt too. Because Bellatrix was mad, and she about to give it good.

He pulled her with him, grabbing Potter on the way. The Snatcher holding Weasley followed him out of the drawing room and down into the cellar.

"I'll take it from here," Draco ordered the Snatcher as he threw Weasley down to the ground once they reached the cold dank underground room.

Without arguing, the Snatcher flew back up the stairs.

"Astrid, thank god," Draco breathed, pulling her fiercely into his embrace. "What happened to you?"

"Hermione's handiwork," she murmured and Draco was relieved to hear her voice, her beautiful voice.

"What the fuck do we now?!" Potter interrupted, glaring fiercely at him. "Surely you're not going to keep us locked down here?"

Draco felt a flicker of irritation. Couldn't Potter see he was trying to say hello to the girl he had been apart from for so long?!

"Just give me a minute to think!" Draco snarled.

Just then a piercing scream sounded from somewhere up above their heads.

"Hermione!" Weasley cried as he started running for the stairs.

Shit, Draco panicked. He couldn't have them escaping on him. He flicked his wand, slamming the door shut tight.

"Draco!" Astrid cried, her eyes searching his disbelievingly. Weasley started to pound the door, bellowing Granger's name as the screaming grew worse than ever.

"I'm sorry, Astrid," he implored, taking her hands in his, begging her to understand, "I just need a moment to think what to do!"

Despite the screaming, Draco heard Potter let out a loud scoff.

"I always knew you couldn't be trusted, Malfoy. Too much of a coward to do anything that might upset your precious mummy and daddy."

Seeing red, Draco let go of Astrid and rounded on Potter, grabbing a fistful of his t-shirt in his hand and pulling him threateningly towards him as he sneered down into his face. "I just saved your arse up there, you ungrateful little shit!"

"Draco, please!" Astrid begged as he felt her hand tug on his arm, "This is getting us nowhere!"

Reluctantly, Draco let go of Potter, throwing him to the ground in disgust.

"I'm sorry," he muttered stiffly to Astrid, although he didn't feel it.

"Oh, hello," came a familiar, ethereal voice from the other side of the cellar, "what brings you all here?"

They all span around to see that batty Lovegood girl stepping out of the shadows.

"Luna!" Astrid cried, running over to give her a hug. "You've been here all this time?"

"Oh, yes," Lovegood smiled serenely as if she had just met them on the fucking beach or something. "But at least I haven't been alone."

And Draco watched as behind her staggered out a very ill looking Ollivander.

"I-is this a-a rescue mission?" the old man wheezed out as his chains jangled around him.

Oh bugger, Draco thought, as everyone in the room turned to look at him expectantly. He really was about to have his work cut out for him.