Draco was muted all throughout dinner. Afterward, they settled in the Lounge, and Hermione's heart beat rapidly as she tried to scan the room without drawing attention to herself. She noticed the absence of Cho, but her eyes were peeled for Viktor. She thought she saw him when Charlotte dropped a champagne glass with a loud shatter, but when the broad-shouldered man at the gambling table turned to glare at her, it wasn't him.

Flint and Pucey were especially raucous tonight, each drinking straight from the bottle and grabbing the backsides of every Carrow Girl that passed.

It was after midnight when a faraway boom shook the walls and rattled the glasses, like the cannon going off. Hermione breath hitched as she stared down at Draco's Firewhisky, watching it sway. Pucey turned to the group in confusion and said, "There's a One O'Clock Gun tonight?"

She stiffened, her spine tingling with dread. Draco's hand came up to her elbow, rubbing a small circle on her arm.

"I didn't think so," Flint said, standing to peer towards the courtyard.

The sounds of a girl screaming ricocheted off the walls. Hermione's eyes shot open as her head jerked, searching for the source. Draco quickly placed her on her feet and stood. She craned her neck and saw someone on the ground twenty feet away, the girl next to them screeching.

The walls shook again, and just as Hermione ruled out earthquakes, a crack! came from behind her, followed by a wet, gasping sound. She twisted around, and Draco yanked her waist to him.

A Carrow Girl lay on the ground, beginning to scream. Her arm was separated from her body at the shoulder, laying a few feet away. Her leg was twisted at an odd angle.

Splinched.

Hermione clapped a hand to her mouth as the girl cried out, blood spurting from her arm. Hermione stumbled toward her, thinking of Dittany and healing spells—

Draco dragged her back. "We need to go—"

Shouting from the other side of the room.

A burst of spells in the air.

And just before she could make sense of it all, Edinburgh Castle shivered with magic, the floor shifting beneath her feet and the windows shattering as two— three— ten people popped into existence in the Lounge.

She stepped back with wide eyes and a thundering heart, stumbling into Draco's chest when she locked eyes with George Weasley across a room full of Death Eaters.

Chapter End Notes

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Chapter 29

Chapter Notes

BUCKLE UP. Much love to raven_maiden and SaintDionysus for PERFECTING this with me. (You're free to disagree of course. meh.)

Take a look at this absolutely gorgeous sketch NikitaJobson did of Draco's homecoming in chapter 28.

This chapter is massive as you can see. I'm going to need one more week between chapters to catch up on some Real Life projects I've been neglecting. Next update will be June 21, but this cliffhanger is not nearly as bad as the last few.

Just a note: A lot of people got tripped up on this, so I thought I'd address it. Ted Tonks is dead, per canon. Lucius was referring to Ted Nott in the previous chapter, and Narcissa's "sister" is Bellatrix - both of them were in Switzerland.

CONTENT WARNING: Gore, violence, and death.