Nine Lives – December 21, 1988

For Draco Malfoy the twenty-first of December 1988 was a completely normal day, shortly before Christmas.

He got up just before six in the morning and immediately went to look out the window to see if it had snowed, as was his habit. That morning the gardens were blanketed in glittering white and Draco let loose a yell of joy.

At eight o'clock Draco and Mother shared a breakfast of toast and scrambled eggs, with cold milk for Draco and hot tea for Mother.

Then Draco put on his warmest cloak and his boots, and the scarf, mittens and hat Mother insisted on and ran outside to play in the snow.

He returned for lunch, pink-cheeked and wet and completely happy, and chattered incessantly of snowmen and forts and inviting his friends to have a snowball fight, and didn't notice his mother cringing at the thought of her beautiful roses trampled under children's feet.

After lunch Mother had visitors and Draco was sent to his room to entertain himself. Instead of obeying, however, he opened the secret door inside the wardrobe and continued his explorations of Malfoy Manor's secret passages.

Since Mother had visitors Draco did not have to be present at tea time and only emerged an hour before supper.

He showered and dressed in fresh robes, mostly because Father would eat with them tonight.

Supper was tense and silent and Draco excused himself as soon as he could, unwilling to listen to his parents attack each other with sugared poison.

He played with his miniature brooms until Mother came in to tuck him into bed.

As he fell asleep Draco's last thought was: Only three days 'til Christmas…

For Draco Malfoy the twenty-first of December 1988 was a completely normal day.

He was one of the few.

"…cleared of all charges." There was a silence that felt loud and heavy. "You're free to go, Mr. Black," added the old man kindly.

The man in the chair in the centre of the room sat completely still for one moment, then all the tension seemed to leave his body. All around Charlie whispering, cheering, whistling and loud protests broke out.

He leaned forward so he could look at each of his brothers in turn.

Bill's expression was a strange mixture of disgust, envy and fascination. Charlie was sure the disgust was for Pettigrew not Black.

The twins were whispering excitedly, though how they could hear one another in this noise was anyone's guess.

Percy was still wearing the same shell-shocked look that had appeared on his face two months ago when he'd found out that his pet rat was actually human and a murderous Death Eater. Charlie hoped it would go away for Christmas, that face was enough to ruin even mum's Christmas feast for anyone who saw it.

As Charlie followed his father and brothers out of the courtroom he threw one last look at Black. The expression on his face as he spoke to a shabby-looking man with brown-grey hair was not joy or relief or any positive emotion.

It was one of fear and worry.

The only part of his memory between the words "You're free to go, Mr. Black," and his arrival in the fireplace of Remus' living room that remained clear afterward, was the face of a boy he'd seen in the crowd and the worry for Harry he'd been feeling at the time.

The boy had flaming orange hair, countless freckles and dark eyes that might have been brown. Based on the group of red-heads he'd been with the boy was likely a Weasley, and unless Sirius had completely lost track of time, he was several years older than Harry.

The whoosh of the fireplace behind him chased the thought from his mind as he stepped aside so Remus wouldn't land on top of him.

The expression on his friend's face was still the same joyous disbelief it had been when they'd seen each other for the first time in seven years in the courtroom. Sirius' first foolish thought when he'd seen Remus had been, "You look old, Moony." Less foolishly, his second thought had been, "God, how I've missed you." Aloud he'd spoken neither, in fact, he couldn't recall saying anything nor did he have any idea what Remus had said, though he knew his friend had mumbled something into his ear as they embraced.

Remus had gone past him without a word and was returning with tea.

They sat in the two cushy armchairs in front of the fireplace and drank tea in silence, and Sirius could not look away from the window. The apple tree and the grass were covered in brilliant white, glittering like diamonds in the sun.

The two men sat there for a long time after they had run out of tea, not speaking, not moving, and when they said goodnight those were the first and last words they spoke to each other that day.

There was time for talk another day.

Betty was ready to sleep for a week after a double shift in Emergency when she heard the news on the radio.

"Black was pardoned today when Pettigrew confessed to the crimes Black had been accused of. Both were unavailable for comments…"

The voice went on but the white noise in her mind drowned out everything else. Sirius Black was free. Harry's godfather was free. Harry.

Numb, she informed Healer Tonks that she was leaving immediately, then left without even changing into her street clothes or retrieving her handbag from her locker. She Apparated from the lobby (which was explicitly forbidden) and did not even stop to get her breath back.

In front of the school she stopped, watching the windows of a classroom on the second floor. Then she shook her head and Apparated again, thinking No need to alarm him.

This time she paused, closed her eyes and stood still for a minute, just breathing. Then she opened her eyes and began to walk.

Finally she reached her destination. For a long time she stood still in front of the door, and when at last she raised her arm to knock, a voice stopped her.

"Miss Gray."

"Professor," she replied, not turning.

She heard the rustle of cloth and then a hand touched her shoulder. Abruptly she turned and embraced him. Slowly, his arms wrapped around her shoulders.

After a minute she stepped away. "You have no idea how glad I am to see you, Severus."

The horrible drumming thought that had been repeating itself in her head was finally quiet. He's going to take Harry.

She went home from work early that day, like every year on that day, to get everything ready for the arrival of her daughter on the next day.

Her husband was late for their lunch date, but then, he usually was. She didn't even mind most of the time but she had important news to share today.

Her cousin was free. Innocent and free, which was-

Well, it was relieving, and painful and she felt guilty. But mostly, it was wonderful.

She sat in the café, silently contemplating her cousin until her husband arrived, nearly half an hour late. He was grinning as he walked up to the table, and when she raised her eyebrow in question he waved with a letter held in the hand not occupied with the chaos he called 'work-related documents'.

"Dora wrote," he said in place of a greeting. "Caught the owl just before I left. Sorry I'm late, honey."

Andromeda smiled. "It's fine, Ted. You order and I'll read the letter in the meantime, alright?" Her husband smiled and handed over the parchment he'd been waving at her.

She could hear him order the same thing as always somewhere in the background as she immersed herself in this strangely-timed letter from her daughter.

Dear Mum and Dad,

don't worry, nothing's wrong, that's not why I'm writing.

In fact, everything is wonderful, I just need to ask a question. Could Charlie stay with me us over Christmas? His parents said it was okay if we got your permission. Please don't say no.

Dad, Jenny's father said in his last letter that he's never been there but he's got relatives who've lived there for five or six generations. Their last name's Creevey, the current couple have two little boys but he didn't know any first names. Do you know them?

Professor McGonagall said to send you her regards, Mum. Why would she do that? And why say it in front of the whole class?

I love you and I'll see you on Saturday

Nymphadora

PS: Don't even think about saying a word.

Andromeda put down the letter with a smile. Across the table Ted smiled back, accepting his lunch from the waiter.

She had no need to say anything. Sometimes it was enough to leave, say a piece of parchment, lying on the kitchen table and curiosity would do the rest. Nymphadora could survive being teased by her best friend.

When she finally told him what was wrong his first reaction was bitter resentment and the memory of humiliation, followed by confusion.

"What do you mean 'He's going to take Harry'?"

"Sirius Black is Harry's godfather. The guardian appointed by his parents in case something happened to them. I adopted him when I was nineteen, and only managed with a great deal of support from Professor Dumbledore. Never mind that Black can't be stable after seven years in Azkaban. What am I supposed to do now?"

Severus mercilessly squashed his completely inappropriate first response which was to advise Annabeth to attack before Black got the chance.

"Wait and see. Perhaps arrange to meet him without Harry to see what sort of person he is now. Then go from there."

She sighed and turned her face away from him toward the bookshelf in his office. "If- and that's a very big if- If I meet with him, would you come with me?"

Severus stared in silence for long enough that she turned back to him, looking impatient and pleading. To his own surprise he found himself agreeing to accompany her.

The letter arrived late in the evening, after Dudley had gone to sleep. Vernon was sitting on the sofa in the living room watching the sports channel, while Petunia was upstairs, getting ready for bed.

The owl landed on the window sill of the large bedroom and pecked at the glass, making Petunia jump.

When she saw the letter tied to its foot she opened the window and watched it land on the desk. Cautiously she approached, and when it showed no signs of attacking her she slowly reached for the letter.

The owl left as soon as she had relieved it of its burden, leaving Petunia to stare at the thick parchment with the messy writing on it.

Dear Mrs. Dursley,

I am writing to you on the matter of your nephew, Harry Potter, whom I adopted two years ago.
Today, his godfather was released from prison where he spent the last seven years after being falsely accused of thirteen counts of murder and betraying the location of the Potters to the man who wanted them dead. The true murderer was found two months ago, though I did not think much of it then.
I am writing to you now because I am afraid Mr. Black (Harry's godfather) will attempt to gain custody of the boy, and since he has a prior claim I fear his wish may be granted.
I am asking for your help. You owe Harry at least that much.

A. Gray

Two hours later another owl pecked at the window. This one brought a small square of parchment, rolled into a tiny scroll.

It said only:

Forgive me for having turned to you in my desperation. Please just try to forget me. A. Gray

Betty had been silent and tense since Harry had come home from school at noon. She avoided looking at him, keeping her eyes turned toward the windows. Sometimes she was so preoccupied that he had to call her name several times before she looked at him, and even then she didn't seem to see him.

For the first time since he knew her he wanted to hide in a small dark space and build castles in his imagination. Instead Harry went to his room and began to write in the leather book Professor Snape had given him on his fourth birthday.

He'd filled three whole pages when Betty called him out for supper.

They had cheese sandwiches, and all throughout supper Betty was terribly distracted in a way not even a really bad day at work could explain.

Finally Harry couldn't stand the tense silence any longer. "Betty?" he asked. "Is something wrong? Did something happen?"

She frowned at the slice of bread in her hand. "No." Then she lifted her eyes to his and saw the doubting look Harry was giving her and smiled a bit. "No, baby. Nothing happened." Harry nodded slowly and she went back to her contemplations. Then he froze as she mumbled, "Not yet."

The hunter sped through the underbrush, completely disregarding the prey fleeing in all directions. Finally the hunter could smell her master, waiting in the hollow tree.

"You have returned early, my dear. What could inspire such urgency?"

"Bad news, master," replied Nagini. "The rat has been found and the black dog goes free. Your prey is more well-guarded than ever."

Her master let loose something that was not a roar of rage for it had no sound.

Nagini coiled her body tightly in front of the tree while her master continued to rage inside. What they needed most now, was patience.

And a hunter as she was, had plenty.

AN: Yeah, I know, I took my time getting this up. Especially since it's been finished and ready for months.

My only excuse is that real life got in the way. I've got a job now, which is a first, and I was reluctant to post anythign at all. No idea why, since I think I did pretty well with this chapter.

Anyway, enjoy, but don't expect another update for about a month. That's as often as I'm willing and able to update for now.

Love, Annabeth