Lost and Found

Draco crept down the hollow corridor, passing the endless amount of doors, above each one, there was a camera that recorded his every move. He looked into every one as he came into its view. There was no sense in hiding, they were watching him anyway. He was expecting them to jump him at any moment.

Alas, if Theo had been able to escape, so could Draco. He wondered how Theo had done it though. They were clearly outnumbered and unarmed against these people. Draco didn't think Theo was dumb exactly, but he didn't think like the average person. Years of abuse from 'Mummy Bella' had warped his mind. Theo was highly intelligent in his own way— his math skills were beyond Draco's comprehension. Bella had once called Draco a genius, but it was Theo who was the actual genius.

Theo had his weaknesses though. He had difficulty speaking, and he typically spoke slowly. Having a conversation with him could be quite tedious and annoying— something Draco had to adjust to after spending time with him. Theo couldn't help it though.

He was also overly paranoid. Not that Draco blamed him. He had spent the most time with Bella. And that woman would drive anyone bonkers.

Which seemed to be her goal.

"It's after curfew, Malfoy," a voice broke the silence, echoing throughout the empty corridor.

Draco met his eyes with James Potter's. The man didn't even have his gun drawn. He was an arrogant bastard, and he thought he was the biggest shit in this shithole. Alas, it wasn't too far from the truth. James could be awfully cruel. He couldn't top Bella, but for this facility, he was the macho knob.

Draco would choose James over Bella any day. At least James didn't force his wards to play risky games, putting their lives in danger.

"Find Theo?"

"Nott is not your concern. Back to your cubicle."

Draco trudged forward, ignoring his order.

"Hey!" James threw his palm into Draco's shoulder. "I said get back to your cubicle!" he said threateningly.

Draco sent him a glare. "I'm going to find my friend, and you're not going to stop me."

James laughed. "Oh, is that right? What are you going to do? Flood the hallway with your pathetic tears?"

Draco clenched his jaw tightly, irritated. James was always making fun of Draco's lack of bravery.

"Would you like me to write you up? Maybe some solitary time will correct your behavior." He knew Draco couldn't stand small, tight places.

Draco bunched up his fists at his sides. "I am not a child, Potter!"

"Then stop acting like one. Turn around and go back to bed."

Draco shook his head. "No." He had to find Theo. His friend wouldn't last long out there on his own.

James harshly poked him in the chest with his finger, causing Draco to step back and rub at the pain he caused. "Move it!"

Without a thought, Draco swung a fist, connecting it with James's jaw. James dropped to the ground. He didn't move. Draco looked down at him, heaving out anxious breaths of air. He shook his hand, looking at the broken skin of his knuckles.

"Fucking hell…" he muttered. That hurt. That hurt a lot.

He couldn't worry about that though. Theo was his top priority. He bent down and grabbed a hold of James's gun, knowing he would need it.

He rounded a corner and saw a familiar red head before he stepped back, hiding, pressing his back against the wall. His pulse was racing as regrets invaded his mind. He had no idea what he had been thinking. He'd been an idiot to think he could escape this place. And he was going to be in a massive amount of trouble for attacking a guard.

"Draco," Lily Potter called out softly, coaxingly. "I saw what you did to James. He had it coming, I know, but assaulting a guard is not the way we handle things here."

Draco stepped out from the wall, pointing the gun at her. She raised her hands up immediately, having not expected him to be armed.

"Put the gun down," her voice didn't change, she was calm and quiet.

"Don't make me hurt you," Draco spat out desperately. "I just want to find him! None of you care about him, but I do! So stay out of my way!"

"You're not a killer, Draco. That's why you're here, remember?"

"Shut it!" he ordered as tears flowed down his face. "I'm not falling for your manipulation tactics! So just shut up!"

"It's dangerous out there," Lily warned him as he carefully passed her in the hall, keeping her at a distance. "You won't survive out on your own."

Draco shook his gun at her. "I told you to be quiet!"

Her lips squeezed together, showing him that she didn't intend to say anything more.

"Pass me your I.D. card! Now!"

She sighed and removed her identification card that hung around her neck, giving it a toss his way. It skidded across the shiny floor and Draco stopped its movement with his foot. Keeping the gun pointed at her, he squatted down to pick it up.

"I'm going to find my friend, and if anyone follows me, I'll shoot them," he advised her. "Do you understand me?"

"Draco—"

He pointed at a camera and pulled the trigger making her jump at the loud pop. Pieces of plastic showered down, tinking as they hit the floor.

"Do you understand?" he repeated, surprising himself at how firm his voice was. He normally didn't give out orders, he followed them.

She nodded, eyeing the weapon.

Draco took off running after that, using Lily's I.D. card to unlock several doors before he stepped out into the yard, making his escape.

The Order's Headquarters was located in the middle of absolute nowhere. Draco hastily traveled along the side of a dirt track, having no idea where to look for Theo. He just knew he needed to get as far away as he could before they came after him.

Draco suddenly tripped over his own feet and landed flat on his face. He made to get up but watched in horror as someone snatched his gun from where it had landed during his fall.

Draco's lips quivered as he flipped over to see who his attacker was.

"Theo!" Draco gasped as he watched the man smile, cockily twirling the gun around in his hand.

"I was waiting for you," Theo announced happily. He held out his hand for Draco to take and helped him up.

"What happened to your shoes?" Draco asked, noticing that his feet were covered in filth and blood.

"James took them! No shoes didn't stop me!"

Draco slipped his own shoes off him and gave them to Theo. "Here."

Theo's smile widened. "Such a pleasant thing to do, Draco!" he said, putting them on. He then abruptly snapped around, facing up the road, pointing the gun in alert. Draco's eyes widened as he saw a black car speeding their way. Theo shot off the gun, putting a hole through the windshield. The car swerved into a tree.

"Car?" he asked Draco after a moment when no one emerged from it.

Draco shrugged, having no idea what he meant. "What do you mean?"

Theo lifted his hands up and made a motion, as if he was steering a wheel. "You can drive?"

"If the car is still able to be driven."

They approached the car cautiously, checking for any life inside the vehicle. There were two men. The man behind the wheel was dead from Theo's gunshot, but the one in the passenger seat let out an agonizing groan, pain caused by the car's impact to the tree.

POP.

"THEO!" Draco gripped handfuls of his hair in complete terror. "What did you just do?!"

"I ended his misery," Theo said indifferently. It didn't bother him that he had just murdered someone in cold blood.

Bella would be proud.

Theo stepped into the hotel room, following the others inside. His eyes darted this way and that, and he looked behind him when Luna shut the door to close them all up inside. His gaze finally stopped at the balcony doors, staring at them. Draco knew Theo well enough to know that should trouble come, he'd be flying out those doors for an immediate escape. Theo was always calculating things before they could happen, so that he could beat the odds stacked against him— because, bloody hell, the odds were always stacked against him.

"Hey, Theo," Draco called out gently to grab his attention. "Are you hungry?"

It took Theo several moments before he felt comfortable enough to pull his eyes away from the balcony doors.

"Are you hungry?" Draco repeated when Theo didn't say anything. Sometimes it would take him a bit to process what was being said, especially if he was anxious. This was one of those times. Theo didn't like new places and new people.

Theo wet his lips, considering the offer. "Yeah."

"Come on!" Blaise gestured him over to the fridge. "We got leftovers, wait until you try the lamb!"

"Isn't lamb bad?" Theo asked in deep concern. His voice was quiet. He never did feel comfortable asking questions. 'Mummy Bella' punished him for second guessing her.

Draco set an arm to his shoulder. "Which is why we eat it."

Theo looked confused. He had no idea how to respond to that, afraid he'd offend.

"She doesn't control us here," Blaise informed him, knowing exactly what Theo was thinking. He handed Theo a fork. At the end of it, he had stabbed a hunk of the meat.

Theo cautiously put it into his mouth, and he chewed on it for a few seconds before he spat it out into his hand, giving his friends an awful look. "Nauseating!" he announced, making everyone laugh. "I don't like it!" He tipped his palm into Draco's hand, discarding the chewed up mess.

"Ugh!" Draco screeched in protest. "No, Theo, this is disgusting!" Everyone thought the scene was hilarious, their laughter deepened.

"Amico!" Blaise doubled over, slapping at a knee. He couldn't speak anymore words, gasping for air.

"I'm sorry!" Hermione cried out to Draco, who didn't find it all funny. She was wheezing. "But if you could see the look on your face right now!"

Draco went to the kitchenette to wash his hands. "We don't do that, Theo! Okay? You find a napkin and you spit your mouth out into that! Not my hand! Does my hand look like a rubbish bin to you?!"

Ordinarily, Theo would have taken Draco's lecture to heart, but the laughter was distracting, so he joined in. This was new for him. Draco honestly hadn't heard the man laugh in all the years he'd known him. Draco wasn't sure if Theo even knew exactly why he was laughing.

Eventually, Draco chuckled, finding the whole ordeal amusing. Whatever it took to help make Theo at ease, he was for it.

"So, steamed chicken and rice?" Blaise asked Theo when their laughter had died down.

"Avocado?" Theo asked hopefully.

"You bet!" Draco told him.

/?!/?!/!?/

The men were close, Hermione learned. Blaise and Draco were best mates; inseparable. Theo seemed more like their little brother. Which made sense. He emotionally acted younger than someone in his thirties. As the men sat on the sofa, recollecting what little memories they had of their past, it was discovered that Theo had spent over 20 years in captivity.

"I wasn't kidnapped like Draco," Theo informed when Luna asked about it. She hadn't remembered a missing Theodore Nott story.

Theo touched his fingers to his chest. "I'm adopted."

Hermione pursed her lips in disgust. "You were adopted by Bella?"

Theo stared off at nothing. "When I was a boy," he said very slowly, struggling to speak. "She is Mummy Bella."

"That's chilling," Luna noted, deeply interested in the news.

"What did she adopt you for?" Hermione wondered. Bella didn't sound like the nurturing type.

Theo tapped the side of his head. "Smarts. Better than all the other kids in school. Mummy Bella needed that."

"For what?" Blaise asked him.

"Experiments," Draco supplied, looking down at his hands.

"To develop the toughest human," Theo explained.

"Smarts doesn't equal bronze," Hermione pointed out.

"It does when you give them a drug that increases their aggression."

All eyes were on Draco now. He avoided looking at them, too uncomfortable with the subject.

"I am a zombie," Theo said sadly. "But I don't eat any brains."

Draco stood up from his place on the sofa, irritated with the conversation. "I'm going to bed."

"Sleep in the daytime," Theo advised him, shifting his gaze over to the clock. It was three in the morning.

Draco sighed. "I've hardly had any sleep lately, Theo, I'm going to do it now."

Blaise joined him, and that left Theo alone on the sofa.

"Do you not sleep well at night?" Luna asked him.

Theo shook his head. "Daytime rest is the best."

"We normally pull all nighters too," Hermione told him. "For our video editing."

Luna hummed out. Her eyes were droopy with tiredness. The last couple of days has been exhausting. She yawned. "I could use some sleep myself." She stood up, walking to the bedroom where the women's beds were. "Coming, Hermione?"

Hermione watched as Theo kneaded his thighs with his fingers. He did it with so much pressure that they were turning white.

"In a bit," she answered her friend.

Hermione waited for Luna to leave before she asked Theo a question so that she had his undivided attention. "Do you listen to any music, Theo?"

"Mummy Bella lets me listen to classical music. It's good for the mind."

"Do you like it?"

"She says it's good for me."

She also turns you into a zombie, Hermione thought grimly. Not that she was against classical music, but it didn't seem like Theo was allowed his own opinion about things.

Theo looked over toward the balcony doors, heavily studying them, and then he got up from the sofa and went over to them.

"What are you doing, Theo?" Hermione asked him softly as he stepped outside.

He slightly leaned over the railing, looking straight down into the street below, staring intently. "We are up high," he noted, more to himself.

"Yeah, five levels up."

"I can get down," he said determinedly.

"From all the way up here?"

He nodded, keeping his eyes down below.

"Why would you?"

He pushed himself off the rail, stepping back from it. "For when Mummy Bella comes." His fingers started kneading into his thighs again. He was antsy, as if anticipating something dreadful.

"How about some music?" Hermione offered to distract him. She went back inside to stream him a song.

From out on the balcony, Theo watched the telly, listening to the music it projected. He leaned against the door jam, smiling at the soft piano solo.

"Do you like it, Theo?"

"It's lovely," he said, mesmerized by it. He was no longer kneading his fingers.

"It's a piano cover of a song called Save Me."

"Save me," the man repeated in a murmur. "Can you play it again?" he pleaded when it ended.

"Certainly."

Theo had her repeat it over and over, and Hermione was able to coax him back inside where he sat on the couch, humming to the song. Occasionally, he'd whisper the song's title to himself. He was in momentary bliss.

"I'm going to go lie down now, Theo," she told him after half an hour.

He had earlier closed his eyes, lulled by the music, but now they flung open in alarm. "Save me!"

She handed him the remote. "If you want to keep listening to it, you just need to press this button when the music stops. Okay?"

Theo pressed the button, starting up the song again. He smiled.

"Good night, Theo."

"Good night." He closed his eyes and wiggled into the sofa, getting himself comfortable. "Thank you for playing music for me."

A smile spread to Hermione's lips. She found the man to be incredibly adorable, but it quickly faded, realizing why Theo was the way he was.

Bella had done a number on this poor man.