Draco had snickered to himself when he left Granger in the room furthest from where the revel would be taking place. It was convenient enough and right over the dungeons, so after making sure she knew how to activate the trap door and find the dungeons on her own, he left. Even though the room was well out of the way, he'd made sure to lock her inside and place multiple deterrence spells on the room so no one would accidentally stumble upon her. While it was extremely unlikely anyone would be venturing to the side of the manor Granger was waiting in, he would rather be safe than sorry. Any suspicion was unwanted, even if it wasn't directed toward him.

Once he was sure she was well hidden, he apparated to the front door alone and walked right into the open arms of Corban Yaxley.

"Draco Malfoy!" Yaxley exclaimed with a smile as Draco stepped through the front door. His wife was nowhere in sight as was common at revels, but Yaxley was not letting that keep him from properly greeting each of his guests.

"Yaxley," Draco said cordially. He nodded his head at him and shook Yaxley's hand. Yaxley's other hand came around to clap Draco on the back as he grinned.

"Come to enjoy another trade?" he asked. His eyes flickered over Draco's shoulder and he nodded at someone Draco couldn't see, but his attention quickly returned. "Perhaps find a slave for yourself? Even Mudbloods can be efficient where house elves can't, if you know what I mean."

Yaxley gave Draco a suggestive look, but Draco didn't need it to know what he'd meant.

"Ah, not tonight," Draco replied, smiling nonetheless. If he was about to blow up Yaxley's manor, he could at least act friendly. "Maybe another."

"Oh, but my boy, you haven't seen tonight's selection," Yaxley said, leaning in conspiratorially. Draco leaned in as well and raised an eyebrow as Yaxley whispered, "Mulciber has quite the haul this time. One might say some of them are worth a bit of a fight."

Draco hummed and leaned back, releasing Yaxley's hand as he did.

"I guess I'll keep an open mind," he replied. He took advantage of Dolohov's arrival to slip away from Yaxley and find a glass of firewhiskey.

Stepping into the main drawing room, Draco scanned the current crowd. There were more people than usual, likely due to the popularity of Mulciber's slave trade from several days ago, but none of those in attendance surprised Draco. It wasn't even just the younger Death Eaters either; many were closer to his father's age and Draco couldn't help the way his lips twitched at the thought of his father joining one of these. He attended the revels just to spite the man and see the way his lips pursed at every mention of them. While Lucius Malfoy was a Death Eater loyal to the bone, Draco was not surprised at his refusal to even consider attending something as feral as a revel.

"Draco!"

A voice to his left caught his attention and Draco swiveled around to meet it. Theo Nott grinned as he walked toward Draco, a full glass of firewhiskey in one hand and his other outstretched. At the sight of his friend standing in a building that would become a graveyard in less than three hours, Draco immediately remembered the bombs he had on him. The others Draco didn't particularly care for, but would Theo be among those who he killed tonight? He dearly hoped not. Maybe he could convince the git to leave prematurely.

"Theo," he said plainly. Theo's smile dropped and he gave him a look before Draco rolled his eyes and shook his hand. "You never come to these. Why the sudden change?" Why tonight, he wanted to add, but didn't.

"My father says Ol' Mulcy has a surprise I shouldn't miss," Theo replied with a shrug. He took a sip of his firewhiskey and glanced around the room before returning his gaze to Draco. "However, if it's just the usual revel surprise, I'd rather skip, if you know what I mean."

Draco hid his grimace and nodded. Unlike Draco, Theo didn't need to keep up appearances and attend the revels regularly. While Draco prefered his position higher up in the Dark Lord's ranks and the benefits he got from it, sometimes he envied Theo's ability to choose whether or not to attend an event supposedly thrown in the Dark Lord's favour.

"Are you staying long?" Draco asked. Theo shrugged again.

"Got something better for me than a good old fashioned revel?" Theo asked. Draco snorted into his firewhiskey glass and Theo grinned.

"Blaise is at home with what he declares is the worst migraine of the century, but I've never known migraines to be caused by overindulging in alcohol," Draco mused. Beside him, Theo looked thrilled at the idea and Draco was glad. An easy way to remove his friend from the dangers Yaxley Manor would soon present and a believable excuse.

"Migraines sure are a strange phenomenon," Theo replied. Draco nodded in agreement and accidentally made eye contact with Antonin Dolohov across the way. Knowing he could not escape an inevitable conversation, he excused himself from Theo's company but promised they would leave just after dinner if Mulciber's surprise didn't hold Theo's interest.

As Draco made his way across the room, he grabbed a small plate of appetizers and charmed his firewhiskey glass to float beside him so he could eat. Dolohov met him half way and shook his hand firmly before Draco could fully decide if he even wanted to talk to the man.

"Good to see you, Draco," Dolohov said coolly. His dark hair was slicked back like it usually was at revels, but it seemed like he'd taken just a bit more care to style it than other times.

"I hear you're busy these days," Draco said. Dolohov, while unpredictable sometimes, could always be counted on to boast about his work. Ever since Severus had been executed for his betrayal of the Dark Lord, Dolohov had gotten increasingly worse.

"Ah, yes," Dolohov said, grinning maliciously at the thought of his work. "I've been working on a rather nasty curse recently. It's been tested on Mudbloods and muggles alike and is not quite ready for use, but when it is, the Order won't know what hit them."

"What kind of curse? Tell me, does it have roots in alchemy like the acid curse you recently developed?"

Dolohov gave Draco a look he was not entirely comfortable with and hummed, bringing his firewhiskey up to his lips.

"Why the sudden interest? One might think you're following in your dear godfather's footsteps," Dolohov warned. Draco's eyes narrowed slightly but Dolohov was not dissuaded.

"I've always had a personal interest in alchemy and potions," Draco informed him. A short conversation with his father would give Dolohov all the proof he could want so Draco didn't care if he asked. "I'm simply curious. You've known me my whole life, Antonin. You can't possibly think I'd follow the footsteps of a blood traitor and sympathise with Mudbloods?"

Dolohov didn't look fully convinced. His eyebrows raised suspiciously even as Draco calmly took a bite off his appetizer plate and stared directly at him.

"One can never be too careful," Dolohov said lightly, and although the words were said carelessly, Draco knew Dolohov had not appreciated his questions.

After leaving Dolohov, Draco continued to mingle with the other guests and wait impatiently for the moment he saw Mulciber appear. Any time he was able to slip away from the main room, he sent one of Hermione's bombs flying through the manor with several notice-me-not charms and disillusionment spells. By the time Theo found him for dinner, he'd managed to place all three though the last one had almost been seen by one of the wandering rookies.

"Have a seat, mate," Theo said as they found a table in the center of the room. "It's about time we find out what this surprise is everyone's talking about."

As Draco saw Mulciber step to the front of the room, he pulled out his notebook and scribbled a spell checkmark in the top right corner like he'd told Granger to look for. He looked up to see Theo watching him curiously.

"A note to my mother," Draco lied easily, waving the notebook once before stuffing it in his robes. "A form of messaging system we developed so she doesn't worry when I'm gone."

"You're writing your mother at a revel?" Vincent Crabbe snickered beside him. Draco ignored him and flicked his wrist to break the leg of the chair he was sitting in. Crabbe toppled to the ground, causing a bit of a scene and glaring at Draco.

"She worries," Draco said absentmindedly. He turned his attention to the front of the room as Mulciber called for everyone's attention and pushed thoughts of Granger far from his mind. He'd give her ten minutes to clear the building after Mulciber realised the slaves were missing. After that, he'd leave with Theo and trigger the bombs.

"Last week was very successful, friends," Mulciber grinned, amplifying his voice with a sonorus charm. Several people around them cheered and Draco shared a glance with a confused Theo. "I know the Mudbloods provided some rather, shall I say, special fun to those who invested and I'm pleased to announce there are even more to go around this time."

"What the fuck is he talking about?" Theo muttered. Draco pursed his lips and looked back at Mulciber while Theo's eyebrows drew together in confusion.

"With the assistance of Greyback's Snatchers and my own trained men, tonight you will have a broader selection of much finer specimens," Mulciber said proudly. Draco tensed, wondering if he'd underestimated the number and accidentally left Granger with too many to rescue. "A total of thirteen specimen will make their way across the floor tonight and any one of them is available to the highest bidder."

"What the fuck?" Theo whispered, drawing Draco's attention once again. When Draco's eyes locked on his, Theo asked, "Is this his slave trade? The mad git actually made it happen?"

Draco nodded solemnly as the others at their table cheered loudly. Whatever Mulciber had said, Draco assumed it was rather crude given the way Crabbe's face gleamed and he snickered with another boy beside him.

"I see many new faces, so I'll go over the rules one more time," he said. He paused for several seconds as the room quieted down and Draco and Theo shared another glance. "Highest bid wins and you have to pay upfront. No payment, no slaves," he sneered. The room snickered at the memory of what had happened the first time, but Draco just looked around the room blandly, searching for a clock.

With a start, Draco realised Mulciber had only been talking for ten minutes yet he seemed ready to bring the slaves out. There was no way Granger had left by now.

"You good, mate?" Theo asked, drawing Draco's attention away from the clock. "You jumped."

"Fine," Draco said, looking back toward Mulciber. The git was already looking around the room greedily and Draco knew there was no way he'd keep talking for twenty more minutes. There was, unfortunately, no way to warn Granger as he knew she wouldn't check the notebook in the middle of a rescue.

"I won't bore you with any more words," Mulciber said, quieting the room again. "The specimens are ready for sale so get your wands ready, gentlemen."

Mulciber turned to the back door of the room and waved his wand to open it. Draco would have held his breath if he wasn't worried someone would see it, so he forced himself to breathe normally as they waited for the first slaves to step up front. To everyone's surprise—including Draco's—nothing happened. There were several seconds of silence before Mulciber walked to the door himself. He hadn't quite made it there before a younger wizard came running out, his shoulder bleeding what looked like tar.

"The Order—" he gasped, stumbling forward. Mulciber let him fall to the ground and stormed through the door. Draco jumped to his feet, as did several others in the room, and waited anxiously to see if Mulciber would return with Granger.

It was less than a minute before Mulciber returned with Amycus Carrow and an angry sneer on his face.

"The Order's been here," he yelled. Before Draco could realise what was happening, Mulciber raised his wand and sounded an alarm. "They've taken our slaves! They bombed Bristol!"

"Run," Theo said, tugging on Draco's robe. "Run! Run!"

Draco grabbed Theo sharply to keep him from running. If they were seen escaping, it could be suspicious even though Mulciber had clearly said it was the Order that had interrupted their revel.

"If they've rigged the place to blow, we should apparate," Draco told him. Crabbe shoved behind him and Draco scowled, but didn't give him a second thought. "You don't want to trigger anything."

"Right," Theo muttered. He apparated before Draco, saying something about seeing him at Blaise's then disappeared. Draco followed suit, apparating to just outside the property line and triggering the bombs before following Theo to Blaise's house.