Draco looked out his windows and saw that Harry and his cousin were heading towards the door along with about twenty other Aurors. He turned to ask his father again what he had done and noticed the man was gone.
"Damn."
He left his office and headed to the front doors, arriving just in time to see Fwendy answering the door.
"Fwendy, I will handle this," Draco said as he came up behind her. She nodded and disappeared.
"Potter. Nymphadora. When I told you to stop by anytime for lunch, I didn't think you would bring the whole Aurory with you. What do I owe the pleasure of this visit?"
"Malfoy, we are here to place you and your family under arrest."
"You can't possibly be serious, Potter. Arrest? For what?"
Draco knew that whatever reason they were here for had to do with his father. He was surprised that the man who had become his friend would come and arrest him.
"Suspicion of Death Eater activity."
"Come now, Harry, you cannot arrest someone for a suspicion. I thought we had moved passed the idea that I was a willing Death Eater."
"Draco, look, I am sorry, but we have compelling evidence. The laws that were passed after the war allow us to hold all residents of this property until such time that our investigation is complete."
"What do you think I am doing, training Scorpius to be a junior Death Eater? Torturing Muggles for sport? Maybe, you should reconsider having your son come over if you think that is what is going on in this house," Draco said with a cold tone to his voice.
"Draco…"
"Don't, just don't. I have tried so hard to erase Death Eater from my name, and here you are making ridiculous accusations. You know as well as I do that I have nothing to do with anything remotely close to Death Eater activity."
Draco was furious. He had thought that they had moved past their old grudges and finally became real friends. For Harry to come to his home and accuse him of this hurt.
Harry didn't say anything. He stood there quietly, looking into Draco's eyes. He didn't know what to say to him to ease the hurt he saw the man desperately trying to mask.
"Fine, at least tell me what it is you think my family and I have done."
"There was a Portkey activated from this property last night. The person told us he escaped from being held and tortured since the end of the war."
"The end of the war."
Draco was stunned. It could only be his father. He knew what the man was capable of, but he still held out hope that he had been reformed.
"Lucius. I suspected something was going on, but I never would have guessed he had someone held here. My father has been acting suspicious lately."
"What do you mean?"
"I think he is trying to kill my mother, though I have no idea why he would do it. Not to mention his little unauthorized side trip through Europe and some disappearing funds I have been trying to find."
"Is this why you sent her and my mum away?" Tonks asked. Draco nodded and gestured for them to follow him down to his office.
"She was displaying some symptoms of poisons known only to the Malfoy family. It would have taken a master to brew the poisons, so I wasn't completely sure. I was just finishing up a letter to Harry before you arrived. I was going to send it off today." He looked at Harry and handed him the letter he had been drafting when his father came in before continuing, "I wanted you to come over and look through the things I have found and give me your opinion.
He quickly read through the letter, guilt rising in his chest. He should have trusted his friend more. He should have been better composed when he arrived at the Manor. He knew Draco would not appreciate him showing up with Aurors and searching his home.
"And then there was his elf. Evil thing was always lurking around and then would disappear for hours at a time while my father was away on business. He wouldn't come when I called and would not tell me where he had been.
"A few weeks ago, I think the thing finally lost its mind, and it tried to strangle Scorpius. I killed it and sent my family off. I knew then that they were not safe and that my father was not as reformed as he had claimed."
When they reached the office, Draco had forgotten his father's temper tantrum. Harry and Tonks were shocked to see the mess in Draco's office. Harry, sensing that the three of them needed some time to discuss a few things, sent the other Aurors off to search the Manor for Lucius Malfoy.
"Draco, what happened?" Harry asked.
"Father and I, well, he is not too happy with me. He made this mess when I informed him that I killed his elf. I believe he was going to kill me or at the very least, curse me, but my elf stopped him. When I confronted him about my suspicions with regard to Mother, he seemed not to care. He was more concerned about not being informed about the elf. I am certain he was just worried that now the elf was gone, his secrets would start to appear.
"Now you show up and tell me that someone has been held here and tortured. It could only have been him that did it."
"Where is your father now?"
"He's here somewhere. I have restricted him to the grounds. The wards won't allow him to leave."
"You restricted him to the grounds. I would have loved to see the look on his face when you did that," Harry said and laughed. Draco struggled to hide the small smile on his face as he tried not to laugh. Tonks looked at the two unlikely friends and smiled. It was nice to see that they'd grown up and realized life was not about childhood rivalries.
"When did you say you killed that elf?" Harry asked, gathering his composure.
"Roughly two weeks ago," he replied.
"This elf, what did you say his name was?" Tonks asked, making notes in a small book.
"I didn't. It was Mot."
"Yes, Mot. Would your father have left him in control of the magic binding of a prisoner if he had one?"
"Of course he would. He would not sully himself with such a mundane task. It is beneath a Malfoy to do something so, so menial."
Harry rolled his eyes and looked at Tonks. From the look she was giving him, he knew that she was thinking what he was.
"So when Mot died, what happened to any of the menial tasks he was handling by magic? Would another elf step in?"
"Usually yes. However, Lucius never trusted the other elves. If he was hiding something, he would have made sure that whatever it was stayed hidden. He would have set up a location under a Fidelius Charm. The other elves would not be able to take control if they were unable to find the location. Something like binding a person, cleaning, food service and other simple charms would fail. He would then need to go and replace those with his own or find another elf to do it. Since he is no longer in charge of the Malfoy properties, that latter would have been difficult for him. The elves are loyal first to the Lord of the Manor. They would be unable to hide anything from me for long.
"I am still not sure how he managed to keep Mot under his control. It should have reverted to me when the Ministry gave me title."
Harry thought about all this for a few minutes. A small part of him had decided that Draco was telling the truth and probably knew nothing about Snape or Hermione. He still had some doubts though. If Lucius had kept Snape here, he would have had to put him somewhere.
"The Portkey we traced came from the back of your property, near the forest. Are there any buildings or shelters he could have been using to hide this person in near there? Maybe a building was there and then destroyed at some time?"
"Nothing that I have ever seen. I heard him and the Dark Lord refer to the toys my grandfather used to keep. He used the dungeons for them. The dungeons haven't been used since he died. The Dark Lord preferred to keep his prisoners close by. That's why he chose the rooms below the drawing room. Other than that, there is a cottage on the other side of the gardens that is vacant and the stables. There have been no other buildings on the property since I was born."
Tonks knew where Harry was going with this. He was hoping that Draco would remember an area where there had once been a structure, so they could begin to search for the place where Snape was held. She looked at Harry, a thought crossing her mind.
"Harry, it is possible that it has been under the Fidelius since before Draco was born. There was a war going on then as well. If he needed to hide it, it would have been prudent to have it protected a long time ago."
"But he would still need access to his Secret Keeper. How else would he have been able to take anyone there with him?"
Draco was the one to answer.
"If my Father had a place under Fidelius, the only person he would have trusted to be his Secret Keeper is dead and has been since the war."
"Would he have made Mot the new Secret Keeper?" asked Harry. "That could explain why he was so upset when the elf died."
"Potter, I will forgive you this time for suggesting something as idiotic as a Malfoy using an elf for a Secret Keeper because I am familiar with how you grew up," said Draco.
"If he had a place within the grounds, under Fidelius, could he hide there?" Tonks asked, interrupting the verbal fight before it could begin.
"Knowing my father, that would have been the purpose for such a place. He would make sure it was safe and well stocked. He always had several escape plans in case things went south, and since I have him restricted to the grounds, that is where he is most likely at."
Harry knew that meant they could quite possibly search the grounds from now until the end of time and never find a trace of the man. They were so close. He hated to think he might never be able to bring the man to justice for what he had done to Hermione and Snape. As much as he did not want to admit it, the man did deserve better. He needed to find Lucius and prove that he was evil. He needed to do this for Hermione.
"Harry, I know that, under the law, you don't have to tell me what suspicions you have, but it may help if I knew what you were looking for."
Harry thought this over. He could let Draco in on a few of the details without giving away too much.
"Very well. I will tell you a bit of what we know. I will not tell you names. We need to protect the victims until we can either find your father or another way to protect them."
Draco nodded. He understood. This was Auror Potter talking to him, not his friend Harry.
"Yesterday, I came across a woman long thought dead. She was being magically kept in a flat and had no contact with the outside world, either magical or Muggle. She believed that Voldemort had won the war. She had also been severely abused and raped both physically and psychologically. We managed to get her to St. Mungo's were she is undergoing treatment.
"Her road to recovery will be long, if she recovers at all. Her mind has been messed with for so long, the Healers are unsure just what she will be like when they are through.
"At first we had no leads as to who could have done this to her, and then last night a man was found outside the gates of Hogwarts. He was also very badly abused and neglected. He was being controlled with a combination of potions, Imperius and magic.
"He somehow managed to activate an emergency Portkey he had on him to escape. When I had the Portkey traced, its location was revealed to be this property."
Draco walked through the events in his head. Something was nagging him. He knew something, he just couldn't figure out what it was at the moment. He walked to where the contents of his desk lay on the floor. Staring at the papers, he saw it. He bent down and picked up a few. No, his father couldn't be that sick. This was just a place he keeps his current mistress. He shook his head to clear his thoughts.
He looked at the paper in front of him and back to Harry. He had to say, something but if he did, he would be condemning his father. Deep down he wanted to believe his father had reformed.
"Where did you say this flat was?" His voice sounded weak.
"Why?" Harry asked, looking from Draco to the paper he was holding.
Draco looked at Harry. "Was it in Hackney?"
"Yes."
Draco closed his eyes and took a moment to recover his composure. When the Lord Malfoy mask was firmly in place, he opened his eyes.
"Some of the things I have discovered about Lucius in the last few weeks is that he is very good at covering his tracks. He has been taking money and valuables from the family vaults for a few years. He was also siphoning money from certain business accounts into one in his own name. His Apothecary bill has been unusually high for a man with minimal brewing skills. He purchases products several times a year from a Muggle place called 'The Pleasure Palace' and several department stores.
"I also managed to find references to lease payments on a flat in Hackney," he said as he handed the slip of parchment to Harry. "I thought little of it at first. Lucius has been known to have the occasional mistress or two. I assumed the flat was where he would meet with her and the purchases were for whatever the two of them got up to when they were alone. I never imagined… I never thought he could be this…" Draco stopped. He really didn't want to say the word he was thinking. He was afraid if he said it out loud it would make it true. But not saying it didn't make it any less true. His father was evil, and he had been fooling them all for years.
Harry took the paper and glanced at the address. It was for Hermione's flat. This was all the proof they needed. Tonks was looking at the paper over his shoulder. She was thinking about something Draco had said earlier. Something about the Secret Keeper.
"Draco, you mentioned that the only person who your father would have used as a Secret Keeper was dead." Draco nodded. Harry looked confused, as if he wasn't sure where Tonks was going with this.
"Who would your father have trusted to keep his secrets?"
"The only person he ever trusted enough was Severus Snape. I think he probably knew all along that Snape was not as loyal as he claimed. He always told me that if anything happened to him, I was to go to Snape and he would protect me.
"He tried, you know," he said as he looked at Harry and Tonks. "He came to us Slytherins at the start of every year with Professor McGonagall and told us how the school could protect us from family pressures, and if we ever felt the need, we could go to either him or McGonagall for help. I wish I would have listened to him. When I killed… tried to kill Dumbledore, maybe things would have been different.
"It was tough being in Slytherin. You never knew who you could trust. Who was for the Dark Lord, and who was against him among the students. Even our head of house. There were so many rumors about his loyalties; it was hard to know what to believe. The few who were brave enough to turn on their families didn't go to Professor Snape. My wife and her sister both went to McGonagall for guidance after our fifth year. Blaise did as well.
"Now it is too late. He is dead, and I never got the chance to…" Draco trailed off, clearly distressed by not trusting enough in his old head of house.
By the time he finished speaking, Harry and Tonks were looking at each other. It was clear to them both that Draco had no idea of his father's actions. They were all quiet for a few minutes, each lost in their own thoughts.
Harry was thinking about what Draco had told them about Lucius. If he was truly restricted to the grounds, then the only way to find him was to ask Snape for help. But would he even be able to help them. He needed to speak to McGonagall, and he needed to tell Draco the truth about Snape.
"Draco, you are sure your father cannot leave the grounds?"
Draco nodded, "He can only leave now if I remove the wards or take him off the grounds with me."
"I need to use your Floo. I think there may be a way to find his Secret Kept location."
Draco looked at him for a moment and then motioned him towards the fireplace. While Harry was making his call, Draco went over to Tonks.
"Surely, after all these years, he does realize there is no way to bring someone back from the dead."
"Oh, he knows that. But the person he is hoping will help us did not die. He was only missing," Tonks replied.
A/N: Thanks to Sempra, for being there to look this over. My apologies to my readers, I know it has been a while since I updated this story. My only excuse is RL got in the way. I also worried over this chapter for several weeks before I sent it off to my beta. I was not happy with it and would not let it go until I was.