Custody (REDRAFTED- NEW ONE IS POSTED)

Chapter Twenty-Five

Draco tried to fight back, thrashing and kicking. Teddy was silently wailing, squirming in Ron’s grip. Harry and Hermione pushed past Ron, climbing over the edge of the trapdoor.

“Oh calm down little one. I’m not going to do anything to you. Yet.” Draco stilled as he felt a sharp pain in his neck. Wardell slid the needle out and let him go. He fell down, landing hard on his wrist. There was an audible snap. He tried to cry out but he couldn't make any noise. He was so tired….

Harry tried to rush to Draco’s side but was stopped by a barrier. Draco closed his eyes. “What did you do to him?”

“Like I said. Nothing. He plays a key role in this story. In my story. But if you’re talking about his current state, it’s just a simple sleeping potion. He’ll be fine. His wrist wasn’t intentional though. At least it wasn’t his wand arm.” Wardell didn’t seem the least bit worried.

“Why are you doing this? My father did this, not me. I’m not my father.”

“You see, that’s where I don’t care. I’m not after you. I’m after this little one.” He sat down calmly next to Draco and petted his head. Draco tried to move away but the sleeping potion was too strong. “My mom and sister were killed. Sure that bothered me. But they weren’t even my real family. That was my step mother. And how could I love someone that wasn’t even born? No. That wasn’t the problem. He-” Wardell tightened his grip on Draco’s hair, yanking his head back. Harry made a small noise of pain, raising his wand again. “Is the reason my father died. I can understand that to him, it may not matter considering that his dad never loved him but my father was the one good thing I had left in this world.”

Draco went limp, the sleeping potion finally taking over. “Oh dear. I hope the dosage wasn’t too high. I still want him alive for a little longer. Well, I’ll be off. Just take this as a little warning.” He turned and left through the door, like nothing strange was going on. The barrier fell. Hermione rushed to check on Draco while Harry dashed to the door. There wasn’t any sign of Wardell.

He had vanished.

“Harry. He’s okay. He’s just sleeping. But we have to fix his wrist.”

Ron spoke up from where he had been hiding in the passageway. “Someone needs to get Teddy up.”

Hermione left Harry to move Draco onto his back. She reached down and picked up Teddy, holding the crying toddler and rocking him gently. Ron pulled himself out of the trapdoor and closed it, kneeling down on Draco’s other side.

“Fixing his wrist is the easy part. But we can’t stay here. Wardell just said that this was a warning. If we stay here then this will happen again.”

“I know what to do. Fix his wrist and pick him up. Then we can start moving.” Hermione balanced Teddy on one hip which fumbling in her purple beaded bag with the other.

Harry pointed his wand at Draco’s wrist. “Episkey.” The loud snap made him wince. Gently picking him up, Harry slowly stood. In his sleep, Draco nuzzled close, wanting to be protected by his mate. The part of the bond in Harry made him want to find Wardell and rip him apart for doing this.

“Let’s go.”