The Lion and the Eagle |Neville Longbottom|

31. The Raid

(Neville's POV)

The night sky heightened the creepiness of Malfoy Manor. It didn't help that the air remained bitterly cold. We'd all Apparated just past the closed gates. Ahead was a narrow road squished between two hedges.

Since it was his home, Malfoy felt the need to tag along. Harry and Ron were very displeased but Katie, Dylan, and I allowed it. He'd know the best way inside.

"I hoped we never had to come back here," said Ron, "let alone have to hear the name Malfoy ever again."

"I'm right here, Weasley," snapped Malfoy. "I don't want to be back here as much as you don't."

"If we squabble much longer, we'll be found out," Harry said sharply. "We need to move on this, quickly." He cast a dark look towards Malfoy. "You better be right about this."

"It's either I tell the truth, or I land in prison. Do you think I'd chance it?"

In a line, the six of us approached the Manor, wands at the ready. We hadn't openly discussed an entrance plan.

"Who wants to do the honors?" asked Dylan. He was the third redhead in our group, along with Ron and Katie. Though he was Katie's twin, he looked older than her. We always joked about how his facial hair was the deciding factor. After a time, he got used to us picking at him.

"Allow me." Malfoy stepped forward. "The bastards took my home, it's only fair that I give them a housewarming present. Bombarda!"

We moved in, with Malfoy taking lead. The door had completed exploded, shooting pieces of debris everywhere. We had to step over some coming up the steps.

"We should've gone for a quieter, more tactical approach," hissed Katie.

"Oh, like what? Walking up and knocking politely?" asked Malfoy.

"Not now," Harry shushed the two.

There were no panicking, fleeing Death Eaters when we all slipped inside the Manor. But that didn't mean that the place was empty. Since we gave them the heads-up, perhaps they had plans in place for events such as this.

"Check the dungeon," Harry told Ron. "Katie, Dylan, do a sweep of the main floor. Neville and Malfoy will take upstairs. I'll check around the Manor."

I frowned at the prospect of working with Malfoy.

We split in our directions. I kept in stride with Malfoy, refusing to let him get ahead of me or behind. Sure, he led us this far, but it didn't mean he didn't have ulterior motives. If he was leading us right into a trap...he'd be lucky if he'd get to Azkaban. He might not even make it alive out of his own home.

Up the stairwell we went. A dank, dark hallway greeted us.

"Nice décor, for a funeral," I deadpanned. It partially explained the Malfoy mentality.

"Keep quiet, Longbottom."

We checked all closed doors. Some were locked. All that we checked were empty.

"You might want to come here," said Malfoy.

I crossed the hall to the room he was in. Cowering on the far wall were two girls who couldn't have been younger than sixteen. Both looked as though they hadn't showered in days. The room's odor almost forced me to run out and vomit in the hall.

"Check the other rooms, I'll take care of them," Malfoy told me.

"Uh-uh."

"Longbottom, I swear I am not in on this. Those bastards stole my home and used it for...for whatever this is. Do you honestly believe I'd be on board with this?"

"Hard to say with you."

Malfoy rolled his eyes. "We don't have time for this." He put his wand away so the girls could stop shivering in fright. "We're here to get you out. This man," he pointed at me, "is an Auror. He's one of the good ones. There are others here, like him, here to rescue you."

Shouting and spellfire came from the main floor of the Manor. Katie and Dylan. Though the twins could handle themselves, instinct told me to run to aid them.

"Check the other rooms," Malfoy repeated to me. "If there are others, we need to get them out."

Reluctantly, I nodded, scouring the other locked rooms in the hall. It took me three more doors before I found more captives. They looked just as dirty as the ones Malfoy had first found. They wore the same terrified expressions. There was no physical signs of abuse, but it didn't mean that the mental abuse wasn't present.

"I'm here to rescue you," I told them. The women looked a few years older than me. "I'm an Auror. There are others here as well. We're here to get you out." I rolled up my sleeves. "See? No Mark. I'm not one of them."

"T-they are still around," whispered the one woman. Her hair was thin and graying—a strange sight on such a young woman.

Thundering footsteps made me spin around. The two women squeaked in fright behind me. I relaxed when it was Malfoy.

"I got the two down the steps and outside the Manor, it looks like the twins apprehended a straggler. Come on, let's keep them moving."

I checked the rest of the rooms while Malfoy escorted the captives outside. It was the strangest thing, I almost couldn't believe it. Draco Malfoy, the git who had been nothing but a bully for all his educational years at Hogwarts, was doing a good deed. If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I'd think someone was crazy.

After another full sweep of the hall, Malfoy and I got any remaining captives free from their rooms and outside of the Manor. Dylan had a Death Eater straggler while Katie was consoling the freed captives. We were waiting on Harry and Ron to finish up in the dungeon. Leave it to the Malfoys to have one.

A few minutes later, Harry and Ron appeared from the Manor, with another Death Eater straggler in tow. The two Aurors had an arm each of her, she was no match for them both.

"It's all right," I heard Katie tell the captives. The majority were young women, there were a few boys mixed in. "They can't hurt you anymore. We'll take care of you."

"You weren't pulling our leg after all, Malfoy," Ron drawled.

"You were a fool to assume I'd be stupid enough to lie to Aurors who want to see me thrown into Azkaban," Malfoy replied.

"You know, calling us names doesn't help you stay in our good graces," came Dylan's dry reply.

"As if I were in them to begin with."

Ron and Harry joined Katie in consoling the victims. I remained near Malfoy, whose pale eyes fell to the captives. His mouth dipped into a grimace.

"Who were you looking for?" I asked.

"Someone dear to me."

He spoke no more on the subject.