Draco and Blaise were getting a lot of nervous glances as they paced anxiously at the back of the room, their hands clasped behind their backs as they walked back and forth. After they had arrived at the Ministry, Harry was able to alert Daniels easily, who had called in the rest of the Aurors for a meeting in the room they were currently in. Draco was surprised when Ron appeared suddenly, however.

"Thought you were suspended?" He asked tauntingly, raising an eyebrow at the red head.

Ron glared at him while Harry answered, "We need every able body we can get to find the girls. And drop the attitude, Draco. He's here to help."

Draco growled and looked away, continuing to pace as he waited somewhat impatiently for whomever to arrive so they could start this meeting.

"This is ridiculous," Blaise muttered as they passed each other. "We should be out there already searching for them."

Draco nodded in agreement but didn't say anything. He cast a quick glance around the room, catching the eyes of a few nervous Aurors that were all seated at the oval table in the middle of the room.

"What are they?" He heard one of the Aurors quietly ask his neighbor, nodding towards him and Blaise. 

"I don't know," The other muttered. "Probably demons; their eyes are all black."

"Wonder why they would be allowed in here; they aren't Aurors," The first one said quietly. "I understand why they were at the trap before, but not here."

Draco glared at the Auror who immediately turned red and looked away, realizing that he had been heard. Harry looked up and sighed, standing and walking over to Draco.

"Intimidating my fellow Aurors is not going to do you any good," Harry said quietly.

Draco paused in his pacing and looked at Harry. "I'm not trying to intimidate them."

"Either way," Harry said, running his hand through his hair, "You're both scaring them. Could you maybe not pace like you're contemplating murder?"

Growling slightly, Draco turned to fully face Harry, his hands clenching into fists. "Potter, with all due respect, I am trying very hard to stay calm right now and the pacing is helping. You telling me what to do is not going to make this easier. And for you information, I am plotting murder."

Harry's mouth formed a thin line and he sighed while nodding. "Just try not to rip off any of their heads. We need everyone for this."

He turned away before giving Draco the chance to say anything in response, which Draco was alright with. He didn't want to talk to Harry any further, and just wanted to get on with the meeting and searching. He resumed his pacing as his thoughts turned to Hermione.

The only comforting thought in all of this was that he knew she was still alive. He knew she was not safe though, and as the minutes passed by he grew more and more anxious. He needed to find her, to hold her in his arms again and know that she was safe. He mused on the thought of whisking her away to a vacation like he promised; he would take her anywhere she wanted, even if it was just to a library.

He sighed and stopped his pacing, looking up at the ceiling. Merlin, what he wouldn't give to just watch her read a book. He could imagine it now; her sitting on the couch with her legs propped up underneath her. She would wear one of those oversized sweaters that she loved to lounge in over a pair of black leggings with some warm, fuzzy socks. He always thought the socks were ridiculous but now he would give his right arm to see her wearing them again. She'd have a large mug of tea in one hand and a worn book in the other, with Salazar in her lap and Godric running around the couch. She would be at peace, without a care in the world.

The sudden stir of people talking alerted him to someone walking into the room and he looked to see Kingsley Shacklebolt join them. He had a stern, concerned look on his face and he nodded to Draco and Blaise before taking a seat at the head of the table.

"Good evening, everyone," He greeted in his deep voice. Then he looked up at Draco and Blaise. "Would you two care to join us?"

"With all due respect, Minister, I think it would be better if we stay back here," Blaise answered curtly.

Kingsley simply nodded in understanding and looked around the table. "To catch everyone up in case you are not already aware as to why you are here, Miss Hermione Granger and Miss Ginny Weasley were taken by Death Eaters tonight."

There was muttering around the table which ceased immediately as soon as Kingsley held his hand up. "We will be splitting each of you into teams to search around known areas where Death Eaters reside, and-"

He was interrupted by a sudden flash of light bursting through the wall, and Draco stared at the silvery otter that circled around him. It circled three times and then stopped in front of him, rearing up on its hind legs while Hermione's voice filled the room.

"Draco, Ginny and I are alive. We don't know where we are, but I'm in a smallish room made of stone and dirt; Ginny's in a separate room. I can't tell what time of day it is and it's completely black. Right now we're okay, but we're both chained to the walls. Whoever took us took our wands too, so I'm not sure what all we are able to do, but the fact that I'm able to even cast this is a good sign. Please hurry!"

The otter chased its tail again before disappearing, and Draco stared at the spot where it had previously stood, the desperation in her voice ringing in his ears and bristling his Veela.

A sudden hand on his shoulder made him jump and he looked behind him to see Blaise with a mixture of relief and determination on his face. Kingsley broke the silence that followed as he began to speak.

"Alright, we know they are together at least," He announced. "Draco, Blaise: do you know of any Death Eater holdings that match that vague description?"

Draco rubbed the back of his neck. "It could honestly be any of them. We can't feel the girls though, so I'm going to assume they are nowhere near London."

Kingsley nodded while Daniels eyed Draco warily and asked, "What do you mean, you can't feel them?"

"That's not important," Draco answered gruffly.

"Draco," Kingsley said sternly. "It might be wise for them to know the full extent of the situation."

Sighing, Draco nodded reluctantly and explained, "Blaise and I are Veelas; the girls are our mates. When we are in a certain range of them, we are able to feel their emotions and they are able to feel ours. The range has been extending every day, but right now it's only at about a hundred kilometers."

"So basically..." Daniels started slowly. "...The closer you get to the girls, the more you can feel their presence?"

Draco and Blaise nodded. Daniels gave a surprised look and leaned back in his chair. "Well, that's definitely an advantage."

"The only problem is that they won't necessarily be able to pinpoint where the girls are," Harry stated. "They will just be able to tell they are in range. And that is a fairly large range."

"It's better than nothing," Kingsley said.

Daniels nodded in agreement. "Alright, we're going to split you all up into teams of two or three, and we will all split up to cover a wider range of locations."

Draco was not happy to not be paired with Blaise, instead being assigned to search with Harry. Blaise unfortunately was paired with Ron, though Draco was somewhat happy that he himself wasn't paired with the angry red head. Draco and Harry were sent to search the Lestrange house, while Blaise and Ron searched the Carrows' house.

When Draco and Harry landed in front of the old house, they looked at each other quietly before making their way up the old path towards the gates.

"Reckon anyone is in there?" Harry asked quietly as he looked up at the dreary Lestrange manor.

Draco shook his head. "I doubt it. There aren't any lights on, and they wouldn't be in such a predictable place."

Walking through the gates, Harry looked up at the large house. It reminded him of a larger version of Grimmauld Place, while Draco simply scowled at the dark, old building.

"I always hated coming here," He muttered.

"You make it sound like it happened a lot," Harry replied with a surprised tone.

Draco shrugged. "Once every couple of months for dinner before Voldemort returned. It was always an awkward dinner."

He didn't say anything more on the subject and Harry didn't press him for more information. They arrived at the door and Draco pulled his wand out, touching the point to the keyhole. He waited for a few moments, but nothing happened.

"Damn," He muttered. "Rodolphus must have taken our wands off the list of ones allowed to open the door."

He took a few steps back and Harry followed in suit, watching Draco as pointed his wand at the door. "Bombarda!"

The door burst into pieces and the two wizards shielded themselves from the blast. When the dust settled, they slowly entered the house, their wands lit. They cautiously searched the house for any clues, but came up with nothing.

"Well that was a waste," Draco muttered. His anxiety only grew further with the failure of finding anything that could possibly lead them to Hermione.

"And you don't feel anything?" Harry asked.

Draco paused, focusing on himself. Then his arms began to shake from anger as he said, "Nothing, absolutely nothing!"

He grabbed a cup that was on the table next to him and threw it angrily at the wall, letting out a frustrated yell. Harry watched him quietly with his hands in his pockets, waiting for his anger spell to pass.

Draco took out his frustrations on the things around him, picking up random objects and throwing them at the walls. Draco glared at the pile of broken objects that he had created, and he felt a sudden surge of anger that took over his entire body. He opened his palms and stared down at them, watching as a fireball grew in each one.

"Draco," Harry said finally, a mixture of warning and amazement in his voice.

Draco looked back at Harry, growling slightly. "What?!"

Harry stared at the fireballs in the blond's hands and said, "While that is utterly amazing, I would suggest not burning down the house we are standing in."

After a few moments and realizing that Harry was right, Draco took a few deep breaths to calm down. The fireballs eventually shrunk and disappeared, and Draco lowered his hands as he stared down at the floor.

"Sorry," He muttered, closing his eyes and drawing in a long, deep breath.

Harry slowly and cautiously walked towards Draco, making sure to stand in front of the Veela as he quietly said, "You need to keep your cool for Hermione right now. What's going to happen if you lose control? We don't know where she is yet so you can't exactly run to go find her."

Draco didn't say anything as his eyes opened and he continued to stare at the floor. Harry continued, "Once we get their location, then you can lose control to go get her. If anything bad happens, I will do my best to keep you out of Azkaban, but I can't promise anything. I just need you to wait until then; besides, if anything does happen, I'm sure there are laws that would prevent you from receiving too harsh of a sentence."

Finally looking up, Draco made eye contact with Harry, his shoulders relaxing slightly as he straightened up. He nodded and said, "Thank you, Harry."

Harry nodded in return and started making his way towards the door. "Come on, let's get back to the Ministry."

Draco didn't move, still standing in the middle of the room while Harry was almost to the door.

"Harry?"

Harry paused and turned around to look back at Draco. "What?"

Draco turned around to face the other wizard and said, "Show me how to cast a Patronus."

Taken aback slightly, Harry stared at Draco for a few moments before stepping back into the room. "Alright."

Taking out his wand, Harry started to explain the process. "You have to concentrate on your happiest memories. If you lose focus or the memory isn't happy enough, the Patronus will not happen. Once you have a memory and have it focused clearly in your mind, you say 'Expecto Patronum', and it should appear."

Draco nodded in understanding and closed his eyes, searching for happy memories. Of course, all of his happiest memories were with Hermione, but each happy memory was lined with the reminder that she wasn't there with him.

He frowned and focused, ignoring the reminder and searching through his memories. He could use how beautiful she looked as she walked Ginny down the aisle in Bora Bora. Or when he proposed to her and she said yes.

Deciding on that one, he replayed the moment over and over in his head, smiling slightly to himself. "Expecto Patronum!"

A flash of silver flew from his wand and he watched something scurry across the floor and then straighten up. Harry and Draco both stared at the large silver otter in front of them, and Draco's mouth hung open.

"It's..." He stuttered.

"It's an otter, just like Hermione's," Harry finished, raising an eyebrow at Draco. "Looks like it's larger than hers too. Possibly it's mate."

Draco couldn't say anything as he watched the otter run around him, laughing slightly. "This is amazing!"

Harry couldn't help but grin at Draco's Patronus, but as the animal disappeared reality settled in. Draco's smile faded and he remembered where he was, his eyes darkening again.

"We'll  find  her  soon,"  Harry  said  quietly,  as  if  knowing  what  was  happening  in  Draco's  head.  "Come  on,  we  need  to  report  back  to  the  Ministry."    

A/N:  The long-awaited reveal of his Patronus! I am absolutely in love with the idea of soul mate Patronuses (like James and Lily's, who had a stag and a doe respectively). Because Draco and Hermione are fated together in my universe, I feel his Patronus should match hers :) I hope you all like this idea as much as I do because I think it's friggin' adorable! 

Alright loves, next chapter should be up tomorrow! <3