The moment I find my footing, and Malfoy Manor is looming over me, I raise my hand and knock loudly on the enormous door. The wood hurts my hands. The door creaks open almost at once and a pair of small, beady eyes peer around it. I recognise them immediately as belonging to the man who let me in on the night of Dumbledore's death – almost a year ago now.

His voice is thinner than I remember – almost weary. "Yes?"

"I'm here to see Draco Malfoy," I say; my exact words from the last time I stood here.

"Your name?"

"Pansy Parkinson," I say; the words out of my mouth before I can stop them.

He narrows his eyes at me. "Don't I know you?"

My heart skips a beat. "I – I should hope so," I say, trying to sound arrogant. "I'm a Parkinson. Surely you know the Parkinsons."

"Yes, yes of course I do," he lies, looking behind him, as if searching for help. "But I - I'm sorry to say, we haven't really been expecting guests."

"Not even close friends of the owners of this house?"

The beady eyed man twists his fingers, but the door is wider open now – just wide enough for me to see inside. The hallway is deserted, so I could easily sneak through to the main house. Time is running out, and its either he lets me through or I stun him. But do I have the courage?

"Yes – of course, right you are," he is saying. "But safety is priority Miss, I'm sure you understand. If you could just wait there, I'll get Mr. Lucius-"

He shoots me a sheepish, oily smile and turns to go, moving to close the door – and I seize the moment.

"Stupefy," I hiss, and dart forward, barely waiting to see him fall. I consider, briefly, shutting the door and dragging his stunned body out of sight – to save me more time - but if someone caught me doing so, this would all have been for nothing.

Heart thudding with exhilaration, I desperately wind back my mind to the night Dumbledore died, when Draco brought me to his room. I run up the massive staircase, faster than I have ever ran before. I can recall the paintings, the vast works of art lining the walls, but if I hadn't been so busy staring at him, I might be able to remember if it was a right or left that followed... By the time I reach the top of the stairs, I have not yet decided. I stand, looking frantically both ways, trying desperately to remember, but it is no use.

There is a shout. And my heart stops. I look behind me and there are six – maybe seven – men, skidding into the hallway, seven pairs of eyes locking onto mine. And then they are running – taking the stairs two at a time.

And then I remember. "The right of the house looks out over the garden and the left looks out over the woods. You know how you can think things, without really realising you even think them? I chose the left, but I never thought much of it. I only realise now that I've always liked the idea of being free."

My body is hurtling to the left before my mind has even told it to. "Draco!" I yell. So much for subtlety. "DRACO!"

Please be here, please be here.

I can hear feet behind me, thundering in the spaces I have just passed, and I know they will catch me. "Draco!"

A rough arm seizes mine, forcing me to a halt. Every inch of me is beginning to panic now. "Woah, little lady." A filthy looking man leers into my face, reeking of alcohol. "What have we got here?"

I swing at him with my weaker arm, but someone else catches hold of it. The man gives me a toothy smile. "Could have been worse."

They laugh, nasty chuckles. They don't show any sign of wanting to move, and suddenly, I am scared for myself.

The first man tugs me towards him. I regret my choice of clothing now; my neck and shoulders have never felt so bare. "What's your name, missy?"

Just then, a door at the end of the hallway is flung open, and Draco stalks out, his hair glistening with moisture, a towel flung around his neck. "What's going on here?" And then his eyes meet mine, and harden at once. "Let go of her!"

He is inches away before I can even blink, shoving the men away from me. They oblige, but protest, loudly. "Why should we listen to you?"

I step back and take Draco's arm. He steps protectively in front of me. "I just wanted to see him," I say. My voice sounds high and unfamiliar. "The man at the door wouldn't let me in and I-" I cover my face and hide into the back of Draco's shoulder, letting out what I hope is a convincing sob. "I'm sorry, I was scared and I just wanted to see him, I'm so sorry!"

When I peek out from between my hands, the men are shifting uncomfortably on their feet. "Uh, that's no bother at all, miss," says the man who originally caught me, his persona completely changed. "Sorry to have been uh, rough with you, just normal safety procedures-"

"Yes, thank you," Draco interrupts, his voice clipped. "That will be all."

He turns and pushes me gently down the corridor. When we are in his room, he quietly shuts the door and turns to face me, eyebrow raised, unsurprised by the lack of tears on my cheeks. "What the hell are you doing?"

"I think Luna's here, being held captive," I reply instantly. "I'm not sure how long - I think since Christmas - but do you have, I don't know, some kind of spare room where you think she might be?"

Draco doesn't reply. Instead, he sits on his bed and puts his head in his hands, and lets out a long, hard sigh, as if he is a fatigued, middle-aged man after a long day at work. And then something registers.

"You knew?" I burst out, my jaw falling. "You knew that one of my best friends was locked up, being held captive, and you didn't tell me?"

He looks up at once. "It wasn't like that, Isobel. I didn't know until I got home this afternoon-"

"That was at least twelve hours ago," I say indignantly. "That's plenty of time-"

"But how was I to contact you? You know the mail is monitored, and I couldn't come to you-" he catches sight of my fingers on the door handle. "If you go out there, they'll only take you captive too. Please, Belly."

"Don't you call me Belly right now," I say spitefully, but I move away from the door all the same.

Draco watches me tiredly. "You look beautiful," he says. "I'm sorry I didn't hear you outside, I was in the shower. But you have no idea what those guys would have done if I had gotten out even minutes later."

"I can protect myself," I say, trying to keep the grumble out of my voice.

But Draco's eyes are on my neck. "You still wear it?"

My hand jumps to the necklace. Its chain is nearly invisible, but the tiny star pendant gleams between my collarbones; the strapless top a gracious escape from the confines of my school uniform. "I've never taken it off."

"I didn't know."

I pause. "So, about Luna-"

Draco sighs. "What were you planning on doing when you got here? Breaking her out?" He shakes his head. "You could have been killed, Belly-"

"I-" I frown. I hadn't really gotten around to that part in my mind. "I was kind of hoping..." I trail off, but he understands.

"That I would help you."

"Yes," I say, my voice small.

Draco is silent for a long time. I sit down next to him, watching him think. His hair is still wet from his shower; his skin soft and clean.

"Isobel, you know I can't," he says finally, and I have a feeling he isn't just referring to Luna anymore. "I've told you so many times, and you need to get this idea out of your head."

"But for the sake of Luna, the life of one of my best friends..."

"I'm sorry. I really can't."

"You can't or you won't?"

He takes my hand. "Stay here. Stay the night, ok? It's too late to go home."

I shake my head. "I can't stay while Luna's locked up here somewhere. That's awful."

"I suppose," he says, slowly. "I suppose, if you stay here, you could do your best to get her out."

I pause. My eyes are drooping from tiredness, but I blink them rapidly. Luna is far more important than sleep. "What do you mean?"

"I would just be giving you a place to stay," says Draco. "I'll keep you safe, and you'll help your friend. Neither of us can get in trouble for that."

"Great," I say immediately. "That's great. Where is she?"

"You can't go now," he says, a smile tugging at his lips. "Belly, you're falling asleep."

"I don't care-"

"You really can't go right now, whether you want to or not," he says. "She'll be in the basement along with the rest of them, but they lock it at night, and there's only one key. Magic-proof."

"Along with the rest of them?" I repeat, horrified. "Who else is there?"

Draco shifts uncomfortably. "I've told you," he says. "This place isn't anywhere like the home you're used to." He pauses, then pulls me gently beside him. "You need to lie down," he says. "You can't keep your eyes open." I oblige, and rest my head on one of his enormous, soft pillows and he pulls a duvet over us. I pull his arm over me, hooking my back to his chest. "I can't promise anything," he says. "It won't be easy."

"We'll figure it out," I mumble. I can feel myself beginning to drift off already. Through the overwhelming tiredness, I feel amazed – this house is so full of danger and evil, but beside him, I'm not afraid at all. I snuggle into him. "Am I safe here?"

"You're with me," he says softly. I can just barely feel his lips against my ear. "Of course you are."

My anxieties about coming here fade into only the feeling of Draco's cushion against my cheek; his soft breaths like happy sighs against my skin. And when my eyelids are heavy on my eyes and sleep has nearly taken me, I swear I hear him whisper;

"I love you."